Himitsu no Kodomo
by Masked Rose
Summary: The story of Xelloss as witnessed by everybody's favorite Mazoku Lords and various others. This story is now done.
1. In Which Our Story Begins

"Oh, I see," Phibrizzo said, his left eyebrow arched disdainfully. "Just because Dolphin does something, suddenly everyone wants to join in. His childish features were pulled into an unusually sullen frown, probably because he had not been the one to come up with the idea.

"It's a good plan!" Deep Sea Dolphin protested, flinging her head back haughtily. The long, blue tendrils of her hair settled unevenly around her shoulders and her bright, aqua eyes narrowed. "Even as Lord Ruby Eyes created us to control his territory, so we, in turn, could use our own minions to manage our affairs."

"In other words, to do our dirty work," snorted a tall, beautiful, red-haired man who stood with his back to the small huddle in the center of the room. The room in question was a brilliant, blue, underwater throneroom, the walls of which were made completely of glass so as to give the occupants an extraordinary view of Demon Ocean. The occupants in question were the five children of Shabranigdo, also known as the five Mazoku Lords, demonic rulers of the monster race. On the whole, they were a nasty lot.

"Feel free to do whatever you wish with yours, Gaav…" Deep Sea Dolphin addressed the Demon Dragon King coldly.

"It is a sound plan." Dynast Grausherra interrupted quickly, before the argument could escalate into a battle. His calm, monotonous voice served to douse the fiery wills of all those around him. "We will want officers and servants to help us rule the monster race. And although we can obtain these easily enough from the ranks, most of our underlings are weak and undisciplined. It is preferable that we create for ourselves one or two servants who will be our most trusted minions. To accomplish this, it is equally advisable that these few be formed from our very selves, that we may give them whatever power and skills we possess. And to better ensure their loyalty."

"I suppose so," Phibrizzo agreed reluctantly. He scratched the back of his head absently, rustling his black locks, the tips of which fell below his shoulders. "I really rather prefer doing things myself, but I suppose a few extra hands around would give me more time to concentrate on having fun."

"Sounds interesting," commented the last of the five siblings, a blond woman clad in flattering white, Romanesque attire, as she flicked ashes off the tip of her third cigarette in ten minutes. "What are the drawbacks?"

"The drawbacks include the fact that creating another being from yourself takes enormous power. And once given, that power cannot be reclaimed." Dynast responded ominously. "To lose these servants would be to lose a part of yourself… forever."

"Also, physical and mental exhaustion," Deep Sea Dolphin added unnecessarily; Her siblings could tell simply by looking at her that she was drained. 

"That's your own fault," Gaav huffed unsympathetically. "You should have considered the consequences before acting."

"Since when has Dolphin ever used intelligence to determine her actions?" The blond woman rolled her eyes in disdain at her older sister.

"You're just jealous because, unlike you, I don't have to worry about whether I'm powerful enough to manage such a thing." Dolphin retorted. This time some small amount of violence occurred before Dynast could intercede. He did so not out of concern for his peers, but out of impatience with them and a desire to remain concentrated on the task at hand.

"Deep Sea Dolphin, Zelas! Cease this immediately." When relative peace once again reigned, he continued, "Deep Sea Dolphin, show us the results of your experiment."

"Gladly," Dolphin sniffed. She waved a hand and two miserable-looking aquatic mazoku rushed to pull open a pair of large, glossy, black doors. Two forms became visible in the adjoining room, and as they swam forward at their master's command, their shapes became clear to the fascinated Dark Lords. The foremost figure had the appearance of a demonic jellyfish with an unnaturally large amount of tentacles and sharp spikes riddling its hide. The second was a sort of gelatinous blob, azure in color, and partly opaque. "My dear brothers and sister, I present to you, Sai and Blue. I have given them the positions of Commanding General and High Priest of my realm, that they might each take on one half of the responsibilities of the kingdom." She nodded in the direction of her creations.

"Oh, how cute. You've named them." Gaav made no attempt to hide the dripping sarcasm in his tone.

"But you seem to have used up all your creativity on the first one…" Zelas noted.

"Are you implying that blobs are uncreative?" sniffed Phibrizzo, who, himself, had a rather abstract natural form.

"They are far superior to all other members of the mazoku race! Only we alone surpass them!" Deep Sea Dolphin continued irritably. "If you don't believe me, I can organize a demonstration…" 

"No demonstration will be necessary." Dynast held up a hand and turned his expressionless face to the others. "I judge the creation of these mazoku a wise course of action. Let each of us who so desires also create a priest and a general for our own utilization." The others nodded in assent. "But do not forget to exercise good judgment. If you use up too much power on them, you will weaken yourself. Better to allot a certain amount of power for the whole endeavor and then split it into even halves so that one of your servants does not receive a disproportionate amount of power and the other too little."

"Nonsense!" Gaav's eyes flashed arrogantly. "I fully intend on making my general more powerful than my priest. What does one need with a mighty priest?"

"Well, I intend on making my priest dominant," Phibrizzo countered, merely because he loved to argue. "I don't need someone else to fight my battles for me. On the other hand, having a priest to promote the people's worship of my almightiness would be lots of fun."

"I could just use my general to beat the people into submission." Gaav sneered.

"Brute force is not always the best answer, you know! Oh, but I guess someone with no intelligence or cunning would have a difficult time coming up with anything better." In keeping with his childlike form, the impish Hellmaster waggled his tongue in the direction of his younger sibling.

In order to keep them from destroying her lovely palace, Deep Sea Dolphin hurriedly ushered all four of her guests to the exits where, one by one, they removed themselves to the Astral Plane, allowing their projected human bodies to dissipate into the air around them. At last Dolphin was left alone to ponder the results that her little exhibition would soon reap. She knew Shabranigdo would have wanted her to show them what she had learned. Every day their reign grew stronger, more certain. This was simply one step on the way to a great victory for the monster race.

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A/N: I found one site claiming Sai as a rumored name for Deep Sea Dolphin's general. Thus, I have used it in my story. With the exception of Phibrizzo's sevants' names, Blue is the only name that I've made up myself. I've tried to incorporate all the information I learned while researching the Mazoku, but there may be inconsistencies with the canon, intentional or otherwise. 

P.S. The Slayers were created by Hajime Kanzaka. That means the characters and ideas referenced in this fiction are not my intellectual property. This fiction is a totally non-profit endeavor and the content is not meant to be offensive or harmful in any way. This true for every chapter in this fiction.

P.P.S. If you read this story, it would please me to no end to receive any sort of reviews. If you enjoyed it, your comments will greatly encourage me to continue. If you didn't enjoy, by all means, tell me why not. You have a right to your opinion and I'd really like to know what I can fix to make my writing better. Even if this was the most boring story ever and you are sorry you ever came and you're about to hit the "Back" button on your browser, couldn't you at least take a second to leave a review telling me how boring it was? Bad reviews are better than no reviews in my opinion. Knowing what to improve upon is a much better position to be in than having no idea why no one likes you. ^_^;;


	2. In Which the Five Meet Again

A/N: Wow, thanks for all the reviews. I think that's the most I've ever gotten for one chapter. (it's practically the most I've ever gotten...) Now I feel so pressured to live up to all of your expectations! Aghh! ^_^;;; Well, at least I can oblige you by giving you a longer chapter, with more action too. Please note that, while I tried to stay true to everyone's original character, this is not supposed to be your typical, silly, Dark Lords fic. (i.e. Phibrizzo is not just a whiny pushover and Dolphin is not just a cute, bouncy little girl.) Hopefully you like this next installment, but if ya don't, pop on into the review section and tell me why.

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Several decades later, a meeting was called again, this time on neutral human ground to prevent any favoring of one lord over another. The officially broadcast reason for the council was to discuss some mildly threatening movements of the dragons in the region of the Air Dragon King. However, the real motivation behind it was because each mazoku lord wanted to be able to inspect the others' generals without seeming too interested.

Generally the five kept their distance; they did not get along particularly well under any circumstances, and, having each found his own niche in the world of Gaia, they found it worked best if they simply left each to his own devices. Only when it seemed some cooperation would be necessary did they bother coming together. Or when they wanted to keep an eye on their siblings' doings.

Phibrizzo was the first to arrive. This was mainly because he had come several days too early, and not by accident either. The truth was that the rumors of the dragon uprising had been begun by him in order to find an excuse to see his younger siblings again. But he felt it would be a disappoint for them all if they arrived only to discover that there was no threat. Therefore, he had sent his young general off on his first true mission: to awaken the dragons' wrath.

Flickering for a moment in the material plane, Phibrizzo slowly formed his range of influence into the shape of a young boy, wide-eyed and raven-haired. This was his favorite form to take; the irony of his possessing such a form amused him to no end. Phibrizzo was, after all, the undisputed master of the Mazoku in the absence of Lord Ruby Eyed Shabranigdo. For, while technically the race was split evenly between the five, Phibrizzo was by far the most powerful, feared even by his siblings, and considered to be the embodiment of absolute evil.

His realm was the Spiritual world where he controlled the souls of all the living and dead on Gaia. Most of these souls he toyed with absently, allowing them to continue in their pointless existences and reveling in their pain and misfortune. However, once a soul left the material world and came completely under his control, he would judge it. The spirits of all those mortals who had annoyed him in life he brought to his palace in the Desert of Destruction and subjected to endless tortures for the rest of eternity. It was his main source of joy in life. Other than the tortured souls, Phibrizzo lived alone; he disliked company and preferred to take personal control of all of his affairs.

For this reason, Phibrizzo was still having trouble figuring out just what to do with his new servants. Just then Mephista, his priest, was sitting beside him, awaiting his orders. He had somewhat impatiently taught the priest how to give itself a physical presence on the material plane, but being young and inexperienced, Mephista had created for itself a rather incomplete and odd-looking form. Having little other company to look at, it had created its image after the appearance of some of the lost souls that wandered about the Desert. Basically, it looked like a female wraith. 'I guess I could call it a priestess," the Hellmaster mused. He had only gone through with all of this because he knew the others would see his lack of servants as a personal failure or a weakness.

At that moment, Cerberus, his general, reappeared. The young demon had been created by Phibrizzo in the form of a three-headed dog (it had been a boring day…) and hadn't had the attention span to learn how to change his form. The fiendish hound skidded to a halt in front of his master and confirmed the completion of his task. The unsuspecting dragons had been caught completely off-guard by his attack, giving him ample opportunity to assault a nest of recently laid eggs. Dragons went into heat so seldom that the birth of young ones was a special occasion, indeed. Phibrizzo considered it simply one more of their infernal weaknesses that the dragons could only reproduce in such a fashion. Zelas seemed to have a strange penchant for this method of reproduction, although she never produced offspring by it, but other than that, Mazoku generally stuck to forming underlings from themselves or converting wayward humans.

In any case, Cerberus had literally made omelets out of the unborn dragons and had succeeded in getting a large number of enraged female dragons on his trail. "Perfect," Phibrizzo smiled, rubbing his childish hands together in anticipation. As if on cue, a ripple appeared in the atmosphere and Deep Sea Dolphin materialized from the Astral Plane. As usual, she took the form of a busty, blue-haired young woman. Full of dignity, she descended to the ground in front of Phibrizzo dressed in silken blue robes and flanked by her servants.

"Well, Phibrizzo," she greeted slyly. "Punctual as usual, I see."

"As are you," Phibrizzo responded coolly. He wondered if his sister could sense his true purpose for being there. As master of the Psychological realm, Dolphin had extraordinary powers of divination which she often used to scan people's minds or look into their futures. This unnerved her siblings to no end, especially as Dolphin was a naturally mistrusting person and put her gift to use as often as possible. For this reason had she developed a sort of rivalry with Zelas who was naturally a secretive person and who did everything in her power to prevent Dolphin from knowing her thoughts.

"Hey, Phibby!" came a loud roar from the Astral Plane as the Demon Dragon King assembled his physical form. He favored the diminutive master of hell with a hearty slap on the back.

"I dislike your insolent familiarity," Phibrizzo said by way of response.

Sensing a forthcoming retort, Dynast Grausherra entered next to Gaav and pushed him aside gently, but forcefully. "Enough. Let us turn to the task at hand, which, I believe, is the discussion of some restlessness in the region of the Air Dragon King…"

"Hey, tell this little bitch to leave me alone!" an unfamiliar voice cried gruffly from behind Gaav. The four lords turned to see Mephista curiously prodding an orange-haired man with one semi-transparent finger. Having lived in the secluded Desert all of her short existence, she had never seen so many mazoku gathered in one place, and she was now enthusiastically examining the two demons who had followed Gaav's entrance. They were extremely similar in appearance with the exception that one had orange hair and the other blond, and that the orange-haired man took a human form whose impressive physique far surpassed that of his lanky, trembling companion. He was decked out in heavy iron armor and carried two broadswords at his belt.

"That must be your general," Phibrizzo commented, trying not to sound interested. "He looks every bit as intelligent as you..."

Gaav scowled at his sibling. "I saved the intelligence for the priest," he said haughtily. "But wait 'til you see him in action. He's a genius!" Phibrizzo sighed. It was like Gaav to do everything in extremes. However, Phibrizzo could sense the power already emanating from the young demon general so he refrained from commenting. Instead he said, "Mephista, return to me."

Immediately, the strange priestess floated back to her master's side. "This is Mephista," he added unnecessarily; he was feeling very self-conscious. "…And Cerberus." Each of the Mazoku Lords was intently examining his creations, and surely they could sense that neither was particularly strong. Phibrizzo had done this intentionally; why would he want to risk bestowing all his power on lesser beings who might fail him? As far as the Hellmaster was concerned, they were merely there to do grunt work for him anyway. But all the same, he knew his siblings were all carefully mentally noting the fact, and it made him squirm.

Deep Sea Dolphin, undoubtedly picking up on his inner thoughts, relieved him of this pressure by calling attention to Gaav's servants once again. "And who are these handsome young fellows?" she crooned.

"Rashart and Raltark," the Demon Dragon King said briskly, indicating his general and priest in turn.

"Well, if we may now turn our attention to more pressing matters," Dynast interrupted, averting his gaze pointedly from his companions.

"Oh no you don't!" Gaav growled. "Think you can size up the competition and then get away without revealing your own hand? Maybe you'd like to explain why you've brought **four** little friends along with you?"

Phibrizzo started. He hadn't noticed until now that Dynast did indeed have four companions. 'Show-off!' he grumbled to himself.

"I thought two might be underdoing it a bit," Dynast replied calmly, unfazed by the accusatory tone of Gaav's voice. "After all, I have a lot of work to attend to and I figured having a back up set would help alleviate the pressure if one of my servants should meet an unfortunate end."

'So he says,' Phibrizzo fumed silently, 'But he just did it to show off how powerful he is. Well, I'll show them all who's the powerful one here.'

"Sherra here is my commanding general," the ice king was saying, "and with her is Grau, my high priest. Those other two are Norst and Grou, my thirds in command." Gaav and Dolphin, who themselves, would have been very hard pressed to create four servants using only their own power stared with open jealousy at the general called Sherra. It had already learned to take human form and had chosen that of a young girl, her azure hair caught up in a practical braid down her back and her icy eyes glowing with strength and intelligence.

Phibrizzo, however, snorted and looked away. "Cerberus," he said under his breath, "Why don't you do those dragons a favor and let them know where you are."

"But master," the dog whimpered, "then they'll come right here and attack us."

"I know." Phibrizzo grinned evilly. He turned back to the group. "Well, now that that's done, let's get on with it shall we?"

Eager to turn attention away from Dynast's success, Gaav showed a sudden, unusual interest in foreign affairs. "Right. Do we, um, know just what incited this rumored rebellion?" he asked while scanning Dynast for signs of weakness and fatigue out of the corner of his eye. No one noticed when the three-headed dog silently slipped off to the Astral Plane.

"No, which is what makes it suspect," Dolphin sniffed. "Dragons are not an impatient race, nor a rash one. I cannot help but wonder why they have stirred unprovoked…well, **I** haven't provoked them anyway…"

"What race are they?" asked Phibrizzo quickly.

"Black, according to rumor." Dynast replied.

"Hey, where the **hell** is Zelas?" Gaav said suddenly. But his question was never answered, for at that moment, Cerberus returned...with a good four dozen adult female black dragons on his tail.

General chaos ensued, mostly involving the Mazoku Lords arguing about where the dragons had come from while their servants fled in surprise. "Well, frankly, I don't much care where they came from. I'll leave that to you all to discover." Dynast shrugged coolly and turned to retrieve his servants, only to discover that he, and all his siblings, seemed to be surrounded by some strange magical field, one which rendered them unable to phase out, or even to wander more than a few feet from their present location on the Material Plane. "What the hell?" he muttered.

At the mention of hell, three mazoku heads turned suspiciously towards the only one of them capable of creating a force field strong enough to hold Dynast Grausherra prisoner.

"Ahem….Hellmaster….." Deep Sea Dolphin said slowly, "You wouldn't know anything about this, would you?"

The little mazoku merely smiled in response. "Well, we'll certainly get to see our new servants at work, won't we?" He gestured to the plain beyond the barrier to where the 48 black dragons were viciously descending on the 10 mazoku who were conveniently trapped in a similar force field directly in front of them.

"Dammit, Phibrizzo! They're young and inexperienced! You can't mean to say you think it's a good idea to risk losing everything we've worked to create just for the sake of a stupid test," Dolphin raged. Ever since Shabranigdo had proclaimed Gaav as his favored child, Phibrizzo, the eldest, had felt slighted and had begun his never-ending quest to prove his dominance over the others of his kind. His passion for embarrassing his siblings almost outshone his avid devotion to winning Shabranigdo's approval by finding his seven pieces and resurrecting them. So far he had proven successful only at the former, but it was a considerable success.

"What's the matter, Dolphin? Worried you didn't train them well enough? I guess you should have spent more time on that and less time on trying to impress other people. I, for one, know I trained my servants exactly how to act in a situation like this."

Dolphin looked out at the battle again to see that the priestess Mephista had erected a protection sphere of her own….. around herself and her "brother" Cerberus. The two sat back and enjoyed the pain and fear emanating from their peers as they tried to ward off their enemies.

"Bastard!" Gaav roared, throwing himself repeatedly against the barrier that prevented him from coming to his general's aid, to no avail.

"Oh stop whining and watch. Rashart really isn't doing all that badly. My intention is not to destroy your servants, my brothers and sister, but to test them. Should they come out of this alive, they will all be stronger for the experience!"

"You would suck as a parent," Dolphin pointed out moodily.

Dynast remained silent and cool as he watched Sherra, his prize general fight off six dragons single-handedly. Rising into the air, she drew the sword he had forged for her in the icy pits of his palace and viciously replied to the dragon's advances with a counterattack whose speed and cunning left the six dragon maidens suddenly on the defensive. When she was joined by Norst, the two stood back to back and advanced slowly on the dragons, growing stronger and stronger with each whiff of fear and doubt. Grau phased in behind Sherra and combined his powers with hers to create an enormous icicle which he hurled at an approaching dragon, piercing her through the heart.

Rashart, too, was proving his mettle as he fearlessly engaged several dragons in battle. Raltark floated nearby, casting spells to distract the dragons from his partner whenever Rashart's reckless moves left him vulnerable for a moment. And Blue, who had never seen fit to alter it's blob-like form, proved to have powerful magical abilities, drawing power from Dolphin's mental prowess.

All in all it was a bloody mess of a battle, and it was soon obvious that the dragons stood no chance against this new breed of monsters. When only a few remained, they tried to beat a hasty retreat to warn their clan of these newly discovered enemies, but Phibrizzo raised a finger and turned them all to ashes before they could fly 100 feet. 

"There. That wasn't so bad, was it?" he asked gleefully, the deaths having left him sated. As he spoke the barrier around his companions melted and they hurried forward, more out of desire to remove themselves from nearness to Hellmaster than actual concern for their servants. However, they did, one by one, attend to their underlings needs.

It was around this time that a sulking Beastmaster appeared on the scene. She glanced around uncomfortably at the dragon corpses and then at her older siblings.

"Zelas, how nice of you to join us!" Dolphin said, her voice dripping with mock sweetness. "Although I fear you've just missed the best bit."

"It seems it wouldn't have been of much use to Zelas anyway, seeing as she doesn't have any servants to test…" Gaav raised his eyebrow at the conspicuous absence of any attendants at Zelas' side.

Zelas tried to appear haughty and unfazed, but Dolphin felt the turmoil in her sister's mind and licked her lips at the bitter taste of it. "I…..I've decided that I really don't prefer to make any servants." Zelas said at last. "Seems to me to be a complete waste of energy and time."

"Not to mention power, which our dear Zelas can hardly afford to waste," Dolphin purred. Zelas's bitterness at having been created the least powerful of the five was Dolphin's favorite dish. Zelas was undoubtedly weakest in every way imaginable and it was a great source of shame for the Mazoku Lord of beasts who was generally considered to be of little use. She kept mainly to herself, preferring to sit back and watch others at work. She pretended a great devotion to her own pleasure, but Dolphin felt sure it stemmed at least partly from fear that should she apply herself to anything else, she would fail.

"That has nothing to do with it," Zelas replied stiffly. 

"Then why didn't you do it?" Dolphin pretended innocence, but the sneer in her voice shone through.

"Well...that's a secret." Zelas replied lamely.

"Is the secret that you don't feel up to the challenge?" Gaav suggested. "Honestly, Zel-chan, we're siblings! You don't gotta hide stuff from us. What does it matter to us if you don't want servants? We do all the work anyway. I mean, what would you even need servants for?"

Phibrizzo snickered.

"It isn't important, Zelas," Dynast waved off the others. While he often felt superiority over his peers, he was not given to expressing it through teasing, and the whole affair seemed overblown to him. "We've already taken care of the threat which we congregated here to discuss. Your presence is no longer required. If you wish to return to the island, feel free."

Although not designed to cause pain, this comment stung Zelas the most. It illustrated to her how unnecessary her presence had been in the first place. She had put off coming all decade, trying to decide how to explain her failure to create even one servant to her siblings. But she hadn't meant to miss the entire event. Ashamed, she prepared to disassemble her physical form and return home when she heard Phibirzzo's voice.

"Well, I didn't think much of the idea either. If Zelas doesn't want a servant, kudos to her for having the guts to say it to your face, Dolphin. Of course, it's a pity she didn't even try. She might have discovered something unexpected."

"Oh, honestly, Hellmaster," Dolphin laughed loudly, "You don't think she really didn't even try, do you! Of course she did. It's just that she failed miserably. That's what's so funny."

"I don't know. I'd give more respect to someone who tried and failed than someone who's too cowardly to try at all." Gaav said absently as he prepared his servants for departure.

"But it's better to use wisdom to recognize one's weaknesses than to foolishly rush into a battle which is already lost," Phibrizzo countered. "…Of course, I don't have any weaknesses…"

This comment began a mock wrestling match between the three mazoku which Zelas did not stay to watch. The damage had been done. Dolphin knew that she had tried and failed. Dolphin knew that she was incapable of reproducing in the normal fashion. In fact, Zelas was convinced that Dolphin had only started the whole experiment in the first place in order to add salt to an old wound. 'Damn that Deep Sea Dolphin,' Zelas thought bitterly. 'Somehow I'll show her that I'm not as useless as she thinks.'

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A/N: Yes, I stole Phibrizzo's servants' names from mythology. A lot of the generals and priests have names stemming from their masters, so I decided to base their names off the whole Hellmaster thing, and then went for using names from stories concerning Hell. (I was gonna name 'em Hades and Persephone, after the Greek god of the underworld and his wife, but I didn't want anyone to read my story and be reminded of that awful Disney interpretation of a beautiful myth. *shudder* And I figured Pluto and Proserpina (Roman counterparts) would make people think of the planet or Mickey's dog…btw, why is Pluto the only animal in that place who's not sentient…???) Cerberus is the name of the three-headed dog who prevents souls from leaving Hades in Greek/Roman mythology. (Then I was gonna name 'em Dante and Virgil, but it somehow didn't seem right...) Mephista is a take-off of the name Mephisto coming from Mephistopheles, which is a name for Satan. (I got it from Faust!)


	3. In Which a Strange Thing Happens

Opening Notes: Yeah, Ok, I know what you're all thinking: "You said this was a story about Xelloss! So where is he already?!" Patience, patience, my friends. It's only the third chapter. I thought it was important to understand something of the Mazoku Lords' relationships and lives first in order to understand later goings on. Anyway, don't give up on me! I know this chapter is a little darker and moodier than the previous two, but I promise you all that there is plenty of Xelloss coming up shortly! (btw, this chapter contains sexual references, though nothing graphic.) Oh, and Dragonbane, no, Dolphin is not insane yet, although I do intend to cover that moment in history. ^_~ 

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The King of Beast's return to her palace on Wolfpack Island was announced with a gust of wind and a loud crash. Innumerable precious vases and trinkets were sent flying and the glass fell out of several windows. "Master," one of her servants cried, running to greet her and throwing himself at her feet in a position of total humiliation.

Zelas, quite the opposite of Phibrizzo, liked to surround herself with minions and slaves. Dolphin claimed the reason for this was that unlike the powerful Phibrizzo who had no need for supplemental aid, Zelas not only needed help, but used the presence of lesser mortals to make herself feel better. After all, she always said, weak people generally bully others who are even weaker to makes themselves feel good. Zelas, however, knew this was not true. Well, not entirely true. She did not bully her servants or spend her time torturing them to death. Instead, she devoted herself to that thing called pleasure.

As the King of the Physical world, Zelas controlled all that in life which is animalistic, instinctual, base, and material. This was part of the reason for the rivalry between her and Dolphin. Dolphin, king of the Psychological world, was interested in the intellectual and, well, psychological aspects of life. She found Zelas' interest in physical pleasure a waste of time and disgusting besides. She simply didn't understand. The simpleton couldn't grasp the concept that just because someone's realm of interest differs from yours doesn't make him a fool.

Seeing the groveling form in front of her, Zelas relished the fact that at least some people gave her the respect she deserved. "Rise," she intoned coldly. "Fetch Kanbyoo." Without waiting for a response, she turned and retired to her chambers. These rooms were decorated with the utmost attention to aesthetics; soft, silken pillows decorated a bed whose mattress and pillows were filled with the finest down. Scented lavender candles provided just enough light to fill the room with a soft, gentle glow. A mahogany bedstand held little trays of fine chocolates, a bottle of ancient wine, and an ash tray. These little pleasures--eating, drinking, and smoking--which seemed so trivial to the other Mazoku Lords, were considered extremely important by Zelas. She could taste the flavors and feel the caresses of all those physical delights. But today she found comfort in none of them.

Restlessly she threw open the double glass doors which led to her terrace. She let the wind play in her hair, watched as the setting sun cast a purple glow over the entire island, and sighed. At the sound of her voice, even so distant and soft, a movement began in the garden below. Slowly, a pack of enormous wolves began to rise out of the darkness, separating themselves from the other shadows and coming forth on silent feet. Gaining speed as they ran, the pack, one after another, jumped from the garden floor to the terrace ledge and began to invade Zelas' room. Panting and growling with deep satisfaction, they surrounded their master and began wagging their tails vigorously. They were every shade of gray, black and white, with varying designs upon their fur. Some were black as midnight, others spotted gray, some had shaggy manes of white, others were short-haired. All of them had long, bone-white fangs covered in saliva that glittered in the dying sunlight. Their powerful legs and jaws were frequently used to leap incredible distances or tear the heads off rabbits, horses, even men. Especially men. They were her pride and joy.

Her momentary respite was interrupted, however, when the servant from before returned with Kanbyoo. The young man entered the room soundlessly and bowed to Zelas. The light from the sun glistened on his darkly-tanned skin and ebony curls. It made the Dark Lord smile. "Sit on the bed," she commanded, waving the servant away impatiently. 

Kanbyoo obeyed, reclining back against the pillows and gazing at her with his startling green eyes. He was scantily clad as per her general request and she stood for a moment admiring his muscular arms. He was a native islander, whom she had singled out when he was still a boy. In return for eternal life and demonic powers he had gladly become her servant, and she had welcomed the companionship. Creating servants out of humans or animals or demons was a much simpler task than creating them from oneself, and Zelas was by no means weak, so long as she wasn't being compared to her siblings. She was after all, the fifth most powerful being in the world. She assured herself of the meaninglessness of Dolphin's words and turned her attention to her half-human slave.

"At least I have you, is it not so?" she murmured, approaching the bed and setting herself gently down on it. "Give me a massage. I have need of relaxation tonight." Silently, Kanbyoo obliged. It could not have been said that she loved Kanbyoo. She was incapable of loving in that sense. But she was not incapable of receiving pleasure from his ministrations, and for that she loved him in a way which was not love, but which had no other name.

When she had tired of the back massage, Zelas laid herself out languorously across the bed and allowed her white gown and sandals to evaporate. The rising moon made her bronzed skin look golden and her hair shone silver. 'Truly,' she thought, 'I must look like an island goddess. No wonder he adores me.' Smiling, she commanded, "Pleasure me."

Although she was not really female, for monsters have no sex and no sexual drive, Zelas enjoyed the act of love making. And she enjoyed taking a woman's form the most. In pleasure taking, as in most things, Zelas preferred to lay back and let others do the work, and she found the female form often lent itself to this, particularly as she was unconcerned with her companion's comfort. She had often employed human lovers for this purpose, favoring them until that day when they ceased to please her, through inability to perform, lack of loyalty, disobedience, or any other flaw, at which time she fed them to the wolves. But Kanbyoo was different. On him she had bestowed immortality. Or this is what she was contemplating, anyway, when he failed her for the first time.

"Kanbyoo, immediately! I am in no mood for insolence!" But Kanbyoo did not stir. He merely gazed down at her from where he sat on the bed. Disturbed, Zelas sat up. Why must everything go wrong today? She was beginning to feel like decimating a small town to make herself feel better. 

"Master, I must speak with you," Kanbyoo said quietly, avoiding her gaze.

"Well," Zelas growled impatiently, "Speak then."

Kanbyoo gathered his strength and continued. "I have decided not to serve you anymore." If Zelas had not been stunned into immobility, she would have fed him to the wolves right then. Sensing her intention, the canines in question began to salivate intensely and their low growling could be heard. But Kanbyoo ignored them. "Over the last few decades, I have received so little compensation for everything I do."

"Greedy bastard! I gave you eternal life..."

"That is one gift. The power you gave me is minimal. I must think of myself, you know. And all things considered, I don't feel that it is a wise career choice on my part to give myself to a Mazoku Lord of such low standing..."

It was all beginning to become annoyingly familiar. Zelas began to wonder...

"So instead, I have accepted an offer from my Lord Deep Sea Dolphin, who has promised me power and wealth far beyond what you can offer."

"What?" Zelas exploded, "Deep Sea Dolphin? I should have guessed that bitch was behind this. You do realize that she will care for you no more than I, indeed less. You are good for nothing except what I employ you for. Don't estimate your value at greater than it really is. She only wants you to get at me, you know. You are an expendable pawn in her plot!"

"Am I any more than an expendable pawn for you?" Kanbyoo cried in an accusatory voice.

"....but, at least I have a use for you..." Zelas muttered, but she could see what had happened clear as day. Dolphin had seduced him with promises of power and wealth merely in order to annoy her. Zelas had to hand it to her sister, she was ruthless and cunning to a terrible extent. The real question was which of her other wayward servants had allowed Dolphin admission to the island without informing Zelas herself. 

"I take my leave then," Kanbyoo said, mistaking Zelas' silence for submission. As he rose to leave, her hunched over form began to shake with ire and she turned to strike him dead. But even as she did, she saw the mark of the dolphin upon his skin and knew he was under that Lord's protection. Useless, it was all useless! The insolent boy disappeared from sight, as Dolphin teleported him, no doubt, to the depths of the Demon Ocean.

Rage and pain grew in Zelas until she felt she might explode. Trembling, she stood and walked to the edge of the terrace. She let herself float to the garden below, and there, surrounded by the bright island moonlight and the lush tropical wildlife, she unleashed her fury in a wave of wild, terrible blackness. The very island seemed to cry in pain as her hundreds of human, half-human, and demonic servants fell to their knees in unbearable pain and slowly, one by one, returned to the chaos from which they had been created. The island's central volcano, believed to be inactive, erupted, spewing lava upon several small towns at its base and cooking the inhabitants alive. An earthquake shook the ground, splitting the rock and swallowing villagers as they scrambled like idiots from place to place, trying to avoid the punishment of their mistress.

And in that moment something happened which had never happened before: Zelas cried. On the material plane, they must have looked like normal tears, but Zelas felt as though a part of her being left her with each sob. They were tears of pure rancor, pain, and hatred, flowing from her body and gathering at her feet in a growing puddle. And as each moment passed, the pain only grew worse. Fury racked her soul and she thought she would lose control of her physical form, but just as she thought she could stand no more, something caught her attention. 

A form, a power of some sort, had been growing on the Astral Plane ever since the first tear had fallen. At first it was small and insignificant, like a single drop of water, but as Zelas' grief had increased and her tears had flown more freely, it had grown as well, wider and taller, causing its form to be somewhat like that of an inverted cone. On the Material Plane, it seemed to be represented by the puddle at Zelas' feet. 

Zelas blinked and looked again. It seemed to her now that a hand extended from the pool, as though someone had been immersed in her sadness and sought to escape. Amazed, Zelas shook her head and looked agian, but the hand had not disappeared. Instead, it moved weakly, extending itself further from the shallow puddle, until a full forearm showed. Curiosity got the better of Zelas and, kneeling beside the pool, she reached forward slowly until her hand met that of the strange being. She closed her fingers around it and it responded with a surprisingly strong grip. With a sharp tug, Zelas drew the hand out of the pool and stared, astounded, as the arm was followed by a shoulder, and the shoulder a head, and the heard an entire body.

In the end, the mazoku lord found herself sitting in the garden next to a strange black pool with a naked body draped across her lap, for it had collapsed there. It had a completely sexless, featureless build, white-skinned, and white-haired, resembling a human's. The cause for this would be inexperience, she decided. It had no experience with humans and didn't know quite what to do with itself, and yet, for some reason, it had wanted to take human form very badly. Perhaps, she mused, it had seen her, in a human form as she was, and attempted to imitate her. Perhaps it was trying to convey some message to her. Or perhaps it had other reasons entirely, or even no reasons at all. In any case, it must have been extremely powerful to have created even such a simple human form.

It was now, however, completely drained of power with the effort, and without delay, Zelas retired to the Astral Plane, commanding it to relinquish its form and join her. 

On that other plane, she was able to examine it more closely. And it became instantly apparent to her what the thing was: a mazoku. She had created a mazoku.

For several moments Zelas sat and thought about the implications of this. Then, slowly, she began to laugh. Quietly at first, and then hysterically. She had proven Dolphin wrong! She had proven all of them wrong! True, she had accomplished it completely by accident, but that was beside the point. The point was that she had created a mazoku being out of her own self, for that was undoubtedly what had happened. So great had been her grief and rage, so potent, that it had separated from her and taken on a life of its own. That meant that the thing before her was shaped entirely of pure wrath and hatred. How deliciously appropriate, for what are mazoku but beings of darkness and malice. Here was a being that would surely be a dark prince among mazoku for as long as this world existed.

But the feelings of betrayal had not yet left Zelas and she extended herself to the thing cautiously, conducting the Astral equivalent of prodding it with her finger, or rather, her claw, as her natural form was that of an enormous, winged werewolf. The cone quivered on the Astral Plane for a moment and then came to a halt. Gathering strength, Zelas wrapped it in her influence, sending her senses washing over it, reading its signals, feeling its existence. And she became aware that it was laughing.

Startled, she withdrew, not knowing whether to be pleased or offended. "What amuses you so?" she demanded of the strange little being. And to her mild surprise, it responded.

"Why Master," it giggled, "I was merely imagining what indescribable havoc we shall wreak on the world."

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A/N: The crying scene was inspired by a pretty little doujinshi I have which centers around Xelloss and Zelas. It contains a similar scene in which Zelas cries which I found so beautiful I had to use it. I had originally had a totally different idea for the creation of Xelloss, but, well, imitation is the highest form of flattery, right! ^-^;; (btw, Dragonbane, don't worry. Although I think it contains interesting possibilities, I do not support the idea that Xelloss was created from a human. I've always thought of him as 100% mazoku!) Anyway, it should be noted that this in no way represents what the doujinshi author originally intended. Most of this scene was completely made up by me. In fact, I don't even know what's happening in the doujinshi. The scene is described in Japanese of course, but, my Japanese being what it is, I have *no* idea what is *actually* going on there so I just sort of made up something to go with it. 


	4. In Which IT Receives a Name and a Lesson

"Xelloss," Zelas announced with certainty. "Your name shall be Xelloss, for that is my name, and yet it is not. And you are me, and yet you are not." For ages she had wondered what to call the creature. Wondered as it grew, learning to transfer its influence to the Material Plane and then relinquish its hold, becoming familiar with the human mind and how to feed off its pain, developing its own power, and discovering the joys of placing magical detonation spells in random areas and watching the unsuspecting humans set them off. And then, one day, the idea had come to her that she need look no further than her own name for inspiration.

"Sounds good to me," the imp shrugged. It was too busy frying ants with its eyes to be paying much attention.

"Servant!" Zelas cried sharply, wondering if it was even listening at all. "What did I say your name was?"

"Xelloss," it responded immediately. "For I am that which comes from inside you, and yet I am myself, ne?" It returned to barbecuing bugs. It was currently in the shape of a wolf pup and it sat with Zelas on the stone steps of an island temple in one of the little villages near the volcano. It was a village which, miraculously, had remained untouched by the lava flow, and the humans were currently occupied with making several sacrificial offers to Zelas which, ever since the eruption, were always made on this day of the year. This amused the Beastmaster as she had not intentionally saved the people, but she accepted their offer anyway. It was a human sacrifice--the best kind. At the moment, the unlucky man was in the process of being pierced by 2000 needles. Those needles would later be enchanted with an enlargement spell, causing them each, while still embedded in the man's body, to become about three inches in diameter, effectively tearing his entire body into shreds. Oh, how Zelas loved the island.

Of course, if the villagers had known their "mistress" sat in their midst, they might have made the torture worse, but Zelas had taken an inconspicuous and unfamilar form to avoid calling attention to herself. "Now, Xelloss," she was saying. "I want you to reach out and sense the pain of that man over there."

"You mean that acupuncture nut?" Xelloss asked in a bored tone. "His anguish isn't very great. Each needle causes but an instant of surprised pain."

"Yes, but...now pay attention, this is an important lesson....remember that small amounts of pain in great numbers can do just as much damage--and bring just as much pleasure--as one large amount of pain. Do you understand?"

"Naturally, Master. I shall never forget it." Xelloss looked up as an old man walked past carrying a bucket of water. His back was bent with the weight of his burden and his face wrinkled with age. Xelloss stared after him a moment, then suddenly its sharp snout and long, glistening teeth melted into a semblance of the man. Its hind legs lengthened and straightened as the hair fell away and in moments Zelas found before her a complete replica of the man, bucket and all. Only the eyes remained those of a wolf.

"Excellent, but mark your eyes. Even such a small detail will give away your facade to the humans." Zelas commented.

"But I prefer wolves' eyes," the old man sniffed.

As he spoke, another human walked past, this one a young girl in her prime, soot-colored hair swaying gently to her waist, her full figure filling out her blouse quite attractively. She started to approach the temple, humming slightly to herself when she noticed the strange pair. Xelloss was eyeing the girl as curiously as it had the man and Zelas wondered if she shouldn't warn it not to shift shapes here in front of her. But it wasn't necessary. The girl had become equally aware of Xelloss gaze, and before either mazoku could move she began to fume, approached Xelloss, and slapped it hard across the cheek. "Pervert!" she exclaimed and ran back towards the village center, crying, "Mother, that filthy old Garyvirn was looking down my blouse again!"

As soon as the girl was out of hearing range, Zelas burst out laughing. "Nice job, servant." she said, jabbing Xelloss in the ribs with her elbow. Xelloss just blinked. Without warning it changed again, this time into the girl. It giggled as it looked itself up and down.

"This form is much more fun!" it announced.

"Well, whatever suits you," Zelas sighed. "But seriously, in a moment that man I spoke of before will suddenly be in a lot more pain. I want you to focus on the central point of his pain and practice drinking it in. It is easy enough to feel people's pain and be gladdened by it, but it is quite another to become skilled at using the pain to increase your strength and power. You will have to focus the pain, concentrate on filling your body with it...are you listening? Xelloss?... Xelloss?" Zelas looked up. Xelloss was busy jumping up and down on the steps and watching as its generous endowments responded.

"I appreciate that you're working so hard on your human anatomy studies...." Zelas sighed. 

"I'm *listening*, Master," the young mazoku insisted. "But if I don't experiment, I'll never master the exact ways in which human bodies respond to stimuli, and without that knowledge, I will never be able to create a truly convincing human body."

Before Zelas could continue with her lesson, the man from before returned; having emptied his bucket, he was returning to the well for more. However he had become rather distracted by the sight before him, and this fact had not escaped Xelloss. "Watch this," the imp said boastfully and, without waiting to be reprimanded, bounced down the temple steps and up to the man. "Hello, Garyvirn," it cooed. "I trust you're enjoying your...trip... to the well." It batted its eyelashes at the old man shamelessly.

Zelas had to avert her eyes to avoid laughing as Xelloss used its considerable feminine charms on the man. It had only been 10 years since the thing's birth and already it was a handful. Unpredictable, curious, and playful, it approached its studies with a ruthless passion. Nothing could stand in the way of its self-improvement and, although its pranks quite often went awry and got it in hot water with its mistress, Zelas could not quite condemn the little brat. It seemed to have nothing on its mind except chaos and destruction. That and pleasure. For the first time, Zelas had a companion who truly understood her love for pleasure. And while its tastes ran in different areas--it was not all that fond, for instance, of smoking, and it had a strange affinity for human contact--it understood the desire. And that was all that mattered. Naturally, she had not spoken of the event to her siblings. Xelloss was her secret weapon. And their surprised shock and disbelief would be a delicious revenge for the pain they had caused her.

Suddenly Zelas heard the old man give a yelp. She looked around to see him shaking in fear and pointing to Xelloss with a trembling finger. "What...what are you?" he gasped and suddenly turned tail and fled, abandoning his bucket at Xelloss' feet. Xelloss turned dejectedly back to its master and she stifled a sigh. Its eyes were ever those of a wolf.

"What did I tell you?" she waggled a finger at it in remonstration. 

Xelloss shrugged. "I didn't think he'd be looking at my *eyes*."

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A/N: Since I don't have anything else to talk about I might as well make this note, all that stuff about the King of this or that world I've made up myself. I thought it was odd how the mazoku seemed to have developed their personal niches totally haphazardly, and while I realize that mazoku are beings of chaos, I thought there should be a little more logic to it. Therefore I have developed a little chart which I think also answers questions about why certain mazoku act as they do. The worlds I've assigned each lord are based off of their official title as well as their personalities, etc. (Unfortunately it doesn't explain why, if Hellmaster is the most powerful, Dynast's title translates to "Supreme King" and what that has to do with controlling ice...^_^;;) It goes as follows:

Phibrizzo -- Spiritual World (souls, life, death, the afterlife)

Dynast -- Elemental World (the elements, weather, non-living parts of nature with emphasis on ice)

Gaav -- Supernatural World (supernatural beings, magic)

Dolphin -- Psychological World (the mind, memory, all mental states, mental/telepathic powers, intelligence, emotions)

Zelas -- Physical World (pleasure, instinct, animals/beasts, living parts of nature, the body, the senses)


	5. In Which Xelloss Begins His Career

It took five additional decades for the monster Xelloss to settle on his favorite human form. He most often appeared as a male and so Zelas took to thinking of him as such. For a time he sported very short hair, then very long hair for a decade or so, and it was always some bright, obnoxious color. Sometimes he was dark-skinned as the islanders, and sometimes golden-skinned like his master, and sometimes light-skinned like the mainlanders. For a long time he refused to lose the wolf eyes he adored so much.

And for three whole decades, after seeing Zelas in one of her lesser taken forms—that of a long-haired, winged human male with the ears and eyes of a wolf, which she had taken in order to appear to a certain oracle who knew her as such—he insisted on sporting wings. At first they were feathery white wings, as hers had been, and grossly oversized so that he kept knocking over tables and candelabras every time he entered a room. After paging through a book in the library called 'The Lore of Lesser Demons' he had taken bat's wings as the demons in the book often did. And then for three weeks he had had furry wings. Yes, large wings covered in gray fuzz. There had been something so inherently wrong about that that after three weeks of enduring it, Zelas had insisted he lose the wings by the next time she saw him. He had obeyed, albeit sullenly, and from then on, he'd never appeared with wings again.

And then, at last, one day he appeared before the court in an unfamiliar form. The court was now of a reasonable size as Zelas had accepted the human's offerings of children and made them into her slaves, slowing rebuilding her collection of servants and grunts. She had also discovered that the pool of "tears", from which Xelloss had emerged and which, miraculously, had not been absorbed by the earth, had the ability to create mazoku out of humans and lesser magical beings. Zelas had orderd a fountain built on the spot, and all those who drank of it were corrupted, and eventually transformed, by the pure hatred and malice of which its waters consisted. This made creating new servants much easier and quicker than it had been before. And yet, to prevent any more significant betrayals, she refrained from giving any human or lesser demon significant power. Instead, all the important jobs went to Xelloss, while she herself handled affairs which required her to leave the island. Why she knew Xelloss would not betray she couldn't say, but she was sure of it. He was almost like a part of her, and their wills were entwined. She could feel how she owned his soul, how he was bound to her by an invisible chain which he neither could nor wanted to break.

On this day he phased in from the Astral Plane where he had been taking several lesser demons to task and approached the throne. If she hadn't felt his unique signature, she wouldn't have known it was him, as his appearance was quite different from usual. He was completely naked and she could see that the body was male, although it was slim and rather feminine. His skin was flawless and smooth and of a pale color and his hair, falling to his shoulders, was of a violet hue, shaped in the bowl-style hair cut sometimes sported by the boys of Gaia. Only the face was familiar. For some time now he had chosen this placid, narrow face. But even the wolf eyes had now become human, though they retained a vague demonic/animalistic quality. The pupils were of a violet matching his hair. There was something about the simplicity and androgyny of his appearance strongly reminiscent of the form he had first appeared in on that fateful day in the garden. 

"Like the color purple much?" Zelas queried as she puffed on her cigarette, enjoying the shocked reaction of a human at her feet who had been begging her for mercy on behalf of a village upon which she had set loose a gigantic demon in the shape of a wild boar, and who was now staring openly at the strange man who so insolently approached the throne.

"It's my favorite color." Xelloss replied happily. "The color of pain."

"How so? Isn't black usually considered the color of evil?" Zelas raised an eyebrow at her servant.

"Black is the color of people who are trying to be evil," he responded cryptically.

"That still doesn't explain why purple is the ** true** color of evil."

"Well, I'd explain it to you," Xelloss scratched the back of his head distractedly, "but, I'm afraid that **that** is a secret!" A wide, stupid grin spread across his face and he waggled one finger at her. Zelas blinked while the human messenger face-faulted.

"How do you dare to address the King of Beasts with such lack of respect?" the human choked out.

"Who's he?" Xelloss asked, jerking a thumb at the human and ignoring his question.

"I don't know," Zelas shrugged. "Some human who's come to beg for my mercy."

"Oh...If I was you, I'd kill him." Xelloss smiled. The human gasped and curled up into a little miserable ball as if this would make Xelloss forget his presence. "Anyway, I've found my form."

"You know, you don't have to look completely human," Zelas said, amused. Her own golden skin and pointed ears testified on behalf of this point.

"I know. But I like it." Xelloss shrugged and reached for the wine glass Zelas had set on the table next to her throne.

"Typical," Zelas nodded. Xelloss' fascination with humans had not waned over the decades. Indeed, it had only grown stronger over time. But if that was what the imp wanted to spend his time on, it wasn't a problem for Zelas, so long as he didn't shirk his chores. And if Xelloss liked to sneak off to the mainland and conduct "anatomical experiments" with the whores in the seedier port cities, well, that didn't really bother Zelas either. She had even suggested that he bring the girls to the island with him, so that they might recline in greater comfort, but Xelloss said that the filthy alleyways and damp attic rooms added to the atmosphere of degradation and hopelessness. Hell, even his constant interference in the affairs of the villagers didn't bother her, so long as he didn't make he presence known to any other monsters than her own underlings. She had even forgiven him for the time his "magical experimentation" blew up an entire wing of her palace. Well, after she had put him through seven months of extraordinary torture. But, in the end, she **had** forgiven him.

Zelas waved a hand dismissively, although she was secretly pleased that he had thought to come and announce the decision to her personally. It showed how much value he gave to her opinion. "All right then. Your form is up to you. If you want it, that's fine."

"Oh sure, but that's not what you said about the furry wings….." Xelloss muttered as he took a sip of wine. The glass instantly exploded in his hand, causing him to jump back in surprise.

"Look what you've made me do, clumsy. Go fetch me another one."

Xelloss bowed and made to leave, but Zelas held up a hand. "One more thing. Why aren't you clothed?" It didn't matter to her really, as nakedness means nothing to mazoku who are all, in natural form, unclothed, and who lack human self-consciousness where the body is concerned. All the same, she really hoped that Xelloss didn't mean to choose a **naked** human male as his permanent form. It might not matter in the palace, but it was just a bad idea in general if he intended to ever blend in in the human world.

"Oh, that. Well, Master, I felt I wasn't sure what sort of attire to choose for my form. After all, I feel some uncertainty as to what my position here is exactly."

"Oh, oh, of course," Zelas leaned forward. She had forgotten in her excitement over her child of sorts that she had had a reason for wanting a servant in the first place. And yet, she had contemplated it every now and then, going out in the garden under the stars and sitting next to the pool from which Xelloss had been "born", and she felt she had come to a decision. "You, my servant, will be everything to me. You will defend my honor and you will command my servants. Organizer of my affairs, controller of the Islanders, warrior in my name, I grant you the title of both Commanding General and High Priest together with the power that goes with them. Come here."

Startled by the sudden officiality of the affair, Xelloss bowed hastily and came to kneel at his mistress' feet. Taking a deep breath, Zelas reached out her hands and cupped the empty air in front of her. Slowly she focused all of power in that one spot. Carefully, with utmost precision, she took part of herself, much as she had in her earlier failed attempts at creating a servant, and began to form it into a shape. On the Astral Plane it had no distinct shape, but on the Material Plane, she fashioned it in the form of a gigantic ruby. She let her strength, her intelligence, power, knowledge, and skill flow into the throbbing gem until she felt she could give no more without losing control of the transformation.

"Take this ruby, Xelloss, and you bind yourself to me forever," she addressed her servant gravely. "In it is all the power I bestow unto you and that shall be yours to do with as you please. But remember that you are mine, and always shall be until we are all returned to chaos. I offer you the choice to decide your own fate. Will you serve me?"

She did not tell him that, should he refuse her, she would destroy him right then and there. She did not have to tell him, because he did not ask.

"I would serve you gladly, Master. My life is yours." Without hesitation, he reached out and laid his hand on the glowing ruby. Great jolts of power ran through his body, making him feel as though he were on fire. For a moment the pain of it caused him to lose his grip on the physical body he had projected and he appeared as cone hovering before the Beastmaster. But as he felt her power and strength course through his proverbial veins, he found the vigor to reassemble the image. On the Astral Plane, the thing that was Zelas' gift to Xelloss joined his form and became one with it. He buckled and gasped as his body absorbed the ruby until finally Zelas let the jewel, now a part of him, fall into his hands and his hands alone. And there he stood, calm and placid once again, holding the symbol of his bondage in his hands. As she watched, the ruby started to sprout strange growths. The growths slowly met and formed into a receptacle of sorts for the ruby, and then this grew out into a long, crooked staff. Xelloss let go the jewel and grabbed the staff with his right hand.

Almost instantly his body covered itself in the garb of a simple priest. "If you don't mind then, Master, I think I'll wear this for now," he said cheerfully. Mischievously he cocked his head and closed his eyes in an imitation of supreme innocence. With a 'pop' the human messenger, who had been watching the whole affair with eyes like saucers, suddenly caught on fire. Within seconds his body had been reduced to ashes and nothing remained of him but the lingering echoes of his screams bouncing off the walls of the throneroom.

The small cluster of humans at the back of the room who had been waiting their turn to present their pleas to the Beastmaster suddenly decided that they weren't that interested in begging for mercy and exited the room hastily, preferring to throw themselves to whatever fate they had been trying to avoid.

"Xelloss! That was my human!" Zelas cried, knocking him off his feet with a mere wave of her hand. Unfazed, he stood again, rubbing his rump, but still grinning like an idiot.

"Aww, you don't really miss him, do you?" he said in a sugary voice.

Zelas raised her fist to cause further pain to her insolent servant, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. He was so delightfully vicious. How could she complain if his eagerness for destruction was so great he couldn't always keep it under control. "Fine," she huffed with mock annoyance, "Go test your new powers if you will. I think you are finally ready to be presented to the world. I shall think up an excuse to visit my siblings as soon as I can."

"As you wish, Master." Xelloss bowed several times as he walked, backwards, down the steps. "Oh, and don't worry," He disappeared for a moment, then reappeared with a bottle of her finest wine and a full glass. "I didn't forget."

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A/N: I got the image of Beastmaster's winged Inuyasha impression from two separate doujinshi which featured her in that form. No idea where they came up with it as I've never found that particular form described in any other place during my research, but I guess if two totally unrelated doujinshi both feature it, it can't be that off. (Btw, in one of the doujinshi, she really does look like Inuyasha, that's why I say that.) 


	6. In Which Xelloss Makes His First Public ...

A/N: Wow, thanks as always for the reviews, folks. I hope it is still living up to expectations. Well, you know what to do if it isn't! ^_^ I know this is the chapter everyone has been waiting for (*big drum roll*) so I am anxious to know what y'all think. Btw, shameless plug alert! I drew a cover picture for my little fanfic and in case anyone is interested in seeing it, it is at the following location: http://www-scf.usc.edu/~cotter/XELINK2.jpg. I colored it really hastily, and the line art scanned it pretty poorly, so I will probably go back one day and do a better job, but for now I am pretty happy with it! ^_^ (oh, btw, in the pic, Xelloss' clothes are largely based off of the outfit he wears in Slayers Premium. In the movie he is wearing boots and his staff does not have a crook in it. However, when I was inking it, I forgot the patches on his pants. Oh well...) End shameless plug.

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Far from the tropical Wolfpack Island, in the frozen regions of the North Pole, Dynast Grausherra stood in the highest tower of his majestic ice castle and surveyed the frozen wasteland he called home. He imagined that day when the world would be purged of the ridiculous lifeforms which currently crawled upon it and everything would resemble the dead silence of the arctic. It would be a beautiful day. And he, Dynast Grausherra, would be the only Dark Lord alive to enjoy it. 

Oh, yes. Dynast felt certain that in a few millennia his siblings would have wiped each other off the face of the earth. One of these days he would simply stop intervening and watch their petty rivalries grow out of hand until one of them simply never moved again. He figured Zelas would be the first to go. She was by no means as weak as she thought, but her lack of confidence would be her undoing. He would help Dolphin finish the task if need be. Oh, Deep Sea Dolphin. She was his accomplice in all of his plans. It was she who would help Gaav and him erase the bratty Hellmaster from existence. Dynast was particularly looking forward to that one. And then they would turn on Gaav. And then...then he would turn on Dolphin himself. She would probably see it coming, probably knew it already, what with her damned powers of divination, but she still harbored hopes of becoming the strongest Lord, of beating him when the time came. And so they carried out their partnership while each stared daggers into the other's back.

But with time, he alone would be left. There would be no more putting up with Gaav and Phibrizzo's pointless blathering, not to mention Zelas' sly tricks. Her "sense of humor", as she called it, was a source of endless annoyance to him. He was plain sick of it. He was eager for the silence that would reign with them all gone. Eager, but patient. 

"Master, master!" a voice broke Dynast out of his reverie. With irritation he shoved the offending servant down the long, twisting staircase that led to his lookout. Within moments, a new servant had come to replace the last. "Ha-ou-sama," he murmured, "Please forgive the interruption. Our spies report that one of our southern watch towers was attacked...and destroyed...by a gryphon."

"Destroyed," Dynast repeated coldly. "How is it that one gryphon defeated so many of my minions?"

"Well, it would seem the guards were distracted by a raging forest fire which consumed the nearby Gauko forest..."

Dynast frowned. "The Gauko forest is considered to be in my territory. Who would dare to light a fire in *my* territory?"

"I don't know, sir. Grau-sama has already taken the liberty of contacting Maryuu-ou-sama and asking him to follow up on the Gryphon's story."

"Gaav..." Dynast said softly. It was true that the Gryphon, as a member of the magical beings that made up the Supernatural world, realm of the Demon Dragon King, would be under his jurisdiction. "What did Gaav say?" 

"He said that the Gryphon was spooked by a large wolf, my Lord."

"A wolf? Wolves don't attack Gryphons," Dynast impatiently shoved the servant down the stairs to join his peer, but the hapless man was caught by Grau as he phased in from the servants' quarter. Grau had no compassion for the human slave, but it was his unfortunate duty to find replacements for "missing" or "injured" servants, and he liked to keep his work load down to a minimum. 

"They do if they're mazoku in disguise." he said, bowing deeply to his lord.

"Rise," Dynast waved his hand absently and Grau resumed a standing position. "You suspect Zelas Metallium?"

"Maryuu-ou says it was not Juu-ou."

"One of her servants, then?"

"It must be a foolish one indeed to have caused such havoc so far from home," Grau sniffed haughtily. Grau had been placed in charge of handling Dynast's public interactions, thus saving the Dark Lord from unnecessary contact with siblings and underlings. He had already become well acquainted with most of the Dark Lords, but Juu-ou had kept to herself this past century. Indeed, he had rarely met the woman. "Still bitter" was Sherra's assessment. So much the better. Juu-ou was always giving out false information at reconnaissance meetings. He had never met a mazoku who lied so often for no reason at all, except her own personal amusement.

Grau expected his lord Dynast would have brushed the attack off if it hadn't been the third in two weeks. Now he expectantly awaited his orders.

"Contact Zelas," Dynast sighed. "I am sick of this cat and mouse game. Let her look me in the eyes and deny her involvement." The ice king could not think of any reason for the life of him why Zelas would suddenly begin engaging in such pointless fights with him. But if it was a fight she wanted, it was a fight she was going to get.

***

The whole affair turned out to be more complicated than Dynast had bargained on. As it turned out, Zelas first accused Gaav of putting the Gryphon up to it, causing the Demon Dragon King to be dragged back into the argument. Then Zelas changed her story and claimed that Deep Sea Dolphin was sending out her servants in the form of wolves just to get her sister in trouble, causing the accused to have to defend herself. Zelas then admitted that she had made up the whole thing and that everything she had said in the last three hours had been a lie, but by that time the accusations flying on all sides had implied that Gaav was at least partially responsible for the disappearance of one of Dolphin's sea monsters as well as uncovered a plot by Dolphin to flood one of Gaav's fortresses. And after discovering that his siblings were fighting, Phibrizzo had dropped by and begun flinging accusations right and left at everybody about everything, even accusing himself of various acts. This caused much heated "discussion" to be held between the Dark Lords.

Finally Zelas muttered very loudly to herself, "Well I suppose that wolf might have been Xelloss..."

"Who?" Gaav asked gruffly while he tried to fend off the enraged Dolphin who was pelting him with liquid projectiles.

"Xelloss," Zelas repeated nonchalantly. "...My general."

At this, the entire conversation came to an abrupt halt. After a moment of awkward silence Dynast calmly asked, "How exactly do you mean 'my general?'"

"Well, don't sound so surprised. I said I didn't want one before, but the lot of you made such a ridiculous fuss that I figured I'd better just go along with it after all." Zelas flicked the ashes off the tip of her cigarette directly into Gaav's face. 

"Hah! Told ya so! I was right!" Phibrizzo cried triumphantly, sticking his tongue out at Deep Sea Dolphin.

"You were not!" Dolphin protested. "She's lying! Zelas, you expect us to just take your word for it? Well, it won't work. You're about as trustworthy as..."

"Of course I don't. That's why I brought him along." Zelas sat for as long as possible, cherishing her moment of victory. Then she called out to Xelloss, who was waiting on the Astral Plane for her. 

"Xelloss!" 

At least that's what she *thought* he was doing... 

" Xelloss!". A few uncomfortable moments passed in silence. Phibrizzo snickered. "_Xelloss_!!" Zelas sent an angry tendril of inquiry across the Astral Plane with his signature attached. Suddenly the monster in question popped into the room looking more than a little sheepish. His eyes were in their closed position, one which he normally reserved for when he was pulling a stunt.

"Forgive me, Juu-ou-sama," he bowed hastily in apology. "I was taste-testing the cake batter in the kitchens and I forgot myself."

"You were doing what?" Dynast demanded, wide-eyed in indignation. He could just picture Zelas' dirty general sticking his finger into all of the food in the kitchens. Of course, he didn't eat, so it wasn't his problem, but he had his pride to look after.

"Oh," The general called Xelloss started as though seeing the other lords for the first time. "...Nothing."

"Nothing?" Dynast repeated in a calm, yet icy tone. "You expect me to believe that? You just confessed to the deed a moment ago."

"No, I didn't." The general wore a smile that extended from one ear to the other as he peered up at the Dark Lord from beneath his floppy violet bangs.

Dynast was astounded. "Yes, you did." he growled.

"No, I didn't."

"Fool. I was right here when you said it. I heard it myself."

"If you heard it, then why are you asking me about it?"

Zelas had to prevent Dynast from encasing Xelloss in a block of ice for the rest of eternity.

"If this is the general, I can't wait to see the priest," Gaav muttered, holding his head wearily in his hands. 

"Oh, he *is* the priest." Zelas replied cheerfully. "I didn't think it was really necessary to make *two* servants."

Dolphin would have replied that Zelas only hadn't made two because she was too weak, but she refrained for fear Zelas would respond by making *another* Xelloss. She already didn't like him as it was.

"Well, you weren't called here to talk about cake batter," Phibrizzo spoke up from the corner. He was really not surprised. He had figured Zelas could do it all along. "What do you know about the incident at the Gauko watchtower?"

"Oh, *that*," Xelloss' grin turned sheepish again and he scratched the back of his head nervously. "Who would've guessed that Gryphons were so touchy about their mothers..." he muttered under his breath. "...or that dry leaves were so flammable..."

Four pairs of eyes turned dryly towards Beastmaster Zelas. "Perhaps you should give him a lesson in respecting his elders," Dynast suggested coldly.

"He's not always like this..." Zelas laughed timidly. Surprised was definitely a word that could be used to describe her fellow lords. Impressed, however, was another matter entirely.

A loud crash drew everyone's attention back to the general/priest. Xelloss was humming and twiddling his thumbs while next to him, on the floor, lay what was left of a crystal bauble which had once been used to create visions of faraway places so that the viewer might see what was going on in distant lands without leaving the comfort of his home. Now all that could be seen in the glass shards were a thousand tiny reflections of Xelloss. Dynast had never seen anyone who could look so guilty and suspicious while twiddling his thumbs.

"General Xelloss..." Dynast began slowly.

"Yes?" replied Xelloss who was looking everywhere but at the Dark Lord (and the floor).

"Do you..."

"I didn't do it." Xelloss said quickly.

"I never..."

"It wasn't me!"

Phibrizzo was giggling loudly and even Gaav had an amused look on his face. Dolphin, on the other hand, thought the whole stunt highly immature and likely all Zelas' fault. She was busy trying to scan Zelas' mind for anything that would indicate the Beastmaster's involvement, but all she found was surprise and mortification. 

Dynast rested his forehead in his palm. "I think I'm done questioning you, Xelloss. You may retire to the servants' quarters to wait for your master. I still have some things to discuss with her."

"As you wish, my Lord." Xelloss bowed, waved cheerfully, and vanished.

"Now, Zelas, about that thing I wanted to discuss..." Dynast let a hint of menace creep into his otherwise monotonous voice. Zelas gulped.

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A/N: I know their reactions weren't exactly outrageous, but I thought this was a more realistic depiction. After all, Zelas is notorious for pulling dumb stunts like this, so I don't think her siblings would be that suprised. But don't give up on me yet. This incident is far from over and you'll get to see more reactions. Also, in later chapters, I'll go more deeply into most of the Dark Lords' personal thoughts on Xelloss.


	7. In Which Revenge is Plotted and a Search...

A/N: Thanks to everybody for the reviews. And thanks to shikome kido mi for the wonderful observation concerning Xelloss and lying. I totally agree. Generally, Xelloss doesn't lie; he merely leaves out certain important elements of the truth. However, that's when he's trying to get someone to actually believe something or do something that he wants. I consider this to be something different. He does sometimes tell blatant lies for the purpose of annoying people. And this situation is more like that. He is depending on the transparency of his lies to annoy Dynast. Basically, he isn't really lying in the usual sense, he's just being an asshole. Anyway, there's a little bit of rated stuff in this chapter.

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Grau, Grou, Sherra, and Norst had all witnessed the little scene by using a similar crystal bauble to the one which Xelloss had brought to an early grave. This one was located in the servants' quarters. It was generally used by Sherra to spy on Grausherra's guests, and it was much less powerful than the other. Still, it served its purpose. Grau sighed and shook his head. "Just what we need," he muttered. "Leave it to Juu-ou to create a troublemaker."

"It seems to me that he's too much of an idiot to make much trouble," Grou said absently.

"You only say that because you've never dealt with Juu-ou in person." Grau retorted.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Silence!" Sherra's voice cut into the argument like a sharpened blade through a human gut. "I am sure Lord Dynast will handle the situation." She was busy polishing her armor and had grown tired of the constant chatter kept up by the two priests. Norst and Rashart, who had accompanied his master, were quietly reclinging on a couch, discussing various methods for keeping humans conscious during torture sessions. 

"My, my, that's a fine blade!" A voice behind Sherra commented, startling her and causing her to nearly drop the shoulder guards she was working on. Irritated, she swung around and found the general, Xelloss, staring her right in the face.

"If you'd care for a demonstration of just how fine it is, I'd gladly arrange for one. Just hold still..." Sherra made the implications of her statement obvious through the icy malice in her voice.

"Oh my! No need for violence." Xelloss put his hands up and backed away defensively. "I was just admiring it."

"Well, well. If it isn't the little Beastmaster." Grau sneered. "We don't want any trouble here. Why don't you go keep yourself occupied over in that corner."

"A nice idea, but I'm afraid I don't much enjoy conversing with walls," Xelloss responded, but with such sincerity that Grau could only stare at him. The purple-haired priest approached Norst and Rashart. "What'cha talkin about?" he asked cheerfully.

"Nothing," said Norst coldly. He didn't think much of the idea of holding a conversation with the strange mazoku who claimed to be a general. Personally, Norst didn't think he had any of the qualities a good general should have. 

Rashart, however, stood and greeted Xelloss. "They say you're the general of Beastmaster Zelas Metallium. I've been wondering when she would get around to creating a general. What would you say to a duel?"

"Ooh! What sort of duel? Oh, I know! Let's have a cooking contest! I'm an excellent cook!" Xelloss clapped his hands together in excitement.

"Um...I meant more like...with swords...you know," Rashart stuttered, quite taken aback by the unexpected response.

"Swords...?" Xelloss repeated with dismay. "*Real* swords...?"

"No, wooden ones, you idiot. Of course real swords." Rashart was beginning to lose his patience with the odd general.

"Oh, my..." Xelloss backed away from Rashart, glancing around the room nervously at the three generals who were now glaring at him, all of whom sported big, sharp swords.

"I see you're not even armed," Sherra commented dryly.

"Well, I don't really like violence, you see," Xelloss stammered. "Couldn't we resolve this by talking? Heh heh..." The generals began to close in on him. Grau and Grou exchanged glances. 

Annoying as the man was, beating him to a pulp would not really improve Dynast's relations with Zelas, and much as Grau liked to think they could simply brush the threat Beastmaster posed aside, it wasn't true. "All right, enough of this," he sighed, holding up his hands to stay Sherra's blade. "Xelloss, if you don't want to get hurt, why don't you just keep to yourself?"

"Yes, why don't you go make a daisy chain for your master," Grou suggested. 

"Excellent idea!" Xelloss exclaimed and so saying he teleported himself to the other side of the room and sat down with his back to the others. Sherra shuddered. "And to think," Xelloss began to say to himself outloud, much to the others' dismay, "I only dropped that silly bauble because I saw a piece of Shabranigdo in it and it startled me. One would think that..."

"What did you say?" Rashart rushed over to Xelloss and gripped him by the collar, lifting him several inches off the ground.

"I said I saw a piece of Lord Ruby Eyes in the bauble. It's a funny thing, a marble like that showing me images of things that aren't there..."

"Idiot, that's a Seeing Bauble," Grau explained. "It was created by Kai-ou. It shows the viewer things that are happening in other parts of the world, past, present, or future."

"Amazing..." Xelloss rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I wonder if I was seeing the present or the future..."

"You mean you don't know?" Grau cried with dismay. 

"Next time don't touch things you don't understand," Sherra spat at the general/priest. Despite her wariness of him, however, should he be telling the truth, the event was worth mentioning to Ha-ou-sama. If the vision had been real... the implications were incredible. "Grau, wait here with him while I tell Ha-ou-sama."

Grau grumbled about being left behind, but Sherra was gone before he could get out a protest. Anyway, he didn't have to wait long. Within moments the Dark Lords had assembled in the servants' quarters, forgetting their earlier quarrels. Xelloss repeated his story in front of the five.

"Hmm. Did you notice anything in particular about this piece of Shabranigdo?" Dynast queried. He didn't trust the priest, but the claim was too important a one to simply ignore.

"He looked human. And he carried a staff made of bones," Xelloss replied with a shrug. "I don't really remember much."

"Why would Lord Shabranigdo choose to appear to a doddering idiot like this?" Dolphin muttered.

"Hey!" Zelas stepped forward, tired of the verbal bashing her servant was receiving. "Maybe if you didn't treat him like an idiot, he wouldn't act like one. You hear me, Xelloss?" She turned sharply to her priest. "Shape up."

"Yes, Master." His voice was serious, but he still hadn't lost his simpering smile or squinted eyes.

"Instead of arguing, let's act on this information," Phibrizzo spoke up. The thought that the resurrection of Shabranigdo might be close excited him more than he cared to show. Finally his chance to prove himself to the Lord of all Monsters was at hand. When Phibrizzo was finished, Gaav wouldn't be the favorite anymore! "I suggest we search Dynast's records for mention of a staff made out of bones. If we can find something in his library, we might have an idea of what this vision meant."

For once, the five settled quickly on an agreement. After all, despite their differences, they all had a common purpose for existing, and the mere scent of future victory was enough to make them forget their personal grievances. Before long they were all settled in Dynast's musty library surrounded by old, dusty manuscripts and ancient tomes. For a long while silence reigned in the cramped room. Phibrizzo was racing through volume after volume in hopes of finding the answer before anyone else. Dynast was methodically checking each manuscript for the slightest hint or detail which might give something away. But nothing could be found about a staff made of bones.

Suddenly the heavy silence was broken by a startled exclamation from Xelloss, who was floating, cross-legged, near the top of the bookshelves, directly above his master's shoulder. "Oh my heavens!" he exclaimed, nearly dropping his book in excitement.

"You've found something?" Zelas asked quickly. How lucky she would be if Xelloss had found the answer. Then her brothers would have to admit to her servant's usefulness.

"I'll say!" Xelloss replied with a look of pure delight on his face. However, he did not elaborate, choosing to leave the rest of the mazoku waiting in expectant, nervous silence. In the still air, they suddenly became aware that Xelloss was making soft "mmm" noises as his eyes moved over the pages of the book, the contents of which were visible only to him. "Ummm....Lemon creme...." he sighed loudly.

"What?" Zelas glowered at her priest. "Give me that!" She snatched the book roughly from his grasp and scanned the cover. "Xelloss...." she said, her voice tight with barely contolled rage. "I really don't think _101 Scrumptious Recipes for the Aspiring Chef_ is going to contain the secrets to Lord Ruby Eyes' rebirth...."

Everyone in the room collaspsed. Phibrizzo was twitching. "Well, there was a recipe for boneless chicken...maybe that's where the bones for the staff came from," Xelloss suggested amiably. "I mean, the chicken's bones can't just have disappeared. They must have gone somewhere..." He was cut off by a loud roar.

"Zelas!" Gaav's voice boomed throughout the room, causing several books to rattle out of the shelves and fall on Phibrizzo's head. "Get him out of my sight!" The thought that the insolent twerp could treat a matter as important as the resurrection of their Dark Master so lightly made Gaav fit to set the whole palace on fire.

Even Zelas was annoyed and embarassed. "Xelloss, leave us..." she commanded in a trembling voice. "And don't return for some time. I will think of a fitting punishment for you when we've returned home."

"As you wish, Master." Xelloss bowed to each of the Lords and vanished from sight.

***

Somewhere in the depths of the Demon Ocean, in the finest suite the palace of Kai-ou Deep Sea Dolphin had to offer, Kanbyoo, former servant of Juu-ou Zelas Metallium and current spy for the aquatic mistress of the palace reclined on a bed filled with heated water. The Queen of the Sea had made him into a spy, sending him to mix with the human rabble on the surface where he picked up information on the movements of the other Dark Lords as well as the Ryozoku and any worthwhile human sorcerers living at the time. For his efforts, Dolphin had rewarded him handsomely, although she seemed to take little personal interest in him.

Well, it was better than being a slave to Zelas, so he wasn't complaining. He was just pouring himself a glass of chardonnay when the door to his chambers swung gently open. "Kai-ou-sama?" he called, but there was no answer. Suddenly a gust of wind seemed to sweep in from the doorway, although that was impossible as the palace was underwater, extinguishing all the candles in the room. Peering into the gloom, Kanbyoo made out a dark shape leaning against the doorframe. "Who's there?" he demanded.

"Oh, no one," the figure responded. It had a man's voice, soft and high. The figure swept into the room and the door blew shut behind him. The resulting 'bang' made Kanbyoo start, but he managed to retain his composure. The strange man seated himself on the edge of the bed and laid the staff he had been carrying across his lap. 

"I demanded that you explain your presence," Kanbyoo insisted. "You can't simply waltz in here..."

"Oh, can't I?" the man chuckled. "Who's going to stop me? You?"

"Kai-ou-sama..."

"Kai-ou-sama," the man repeated with a sneer, "isn't here at the moment. In fact, I've ensured that she will be busy for quite some time. I afraid it's just you and me."

"Who are you?" Kanbyoo's confidence was fading fast and his alarm was beginning to show in his voice. The strange man breathed in deeply, as though trying to catch a certain scent on the air. 

"Your fear is delicious," he commented. "But such delicate appetizers only make my mouth water for the main course."

The man was a mazoku then, from his speech. Kanbyoo, scooted nervously away from him. He reached for any sort of weapon, but only a candlestick came to his desperate grasp and Kanbyoo was well aware that such an object would have no effect on a mazoku. The man turned and climbed onto the bed, following Kanbyoo slowly as he made his retreat.

"Don't worry so much. I heard you used to be the servant of Juu-ou Zelas Metallium. Isn't this so?" He didn't wait for confirmation. "I also heard that you were an excellent lover. I only want to see if the rumors are true."

"Hey, I don't go for that," Kanbyoo held out the candlestick in front of him as though it were a holy relic with the power to repel the being of darkness advancing on him. 

"Oh, you mean that my current form is unacceptable. If I grew a pair of breasts, would that make it better?" the mazoku laughed. "You humans are all so alike. Come here, mortal." Suddenly the mazoku lunged forward and grabbed Kanbyoo's head, but all he did was draw Kanbyoo's face near to his own and bring their mouths together in a kiss. Kanbyoo's muscles relaxed with relief. This wasn't so bad, really. The mazoku was a good kisser.

Suddenly Kanbyoo felt a jolt of pain shoot through his side. For a moment he felt blinded as the pain made its way up to his arm, paralyzing him. The mazoku broke the contact of their mouths and laughed again. Only this time it was a cold, vicious laugh. "Oh, look," He snickered. "Somebody's run you through with a staff. How unfortunate."

Kanbyoo looked down to see that the base of the man's staff had been rammed into his midsection. He could feel the warmth of his own blood on his legs. He was almost too shocked to be afraid. The mazoku lifted his free arm and brought his fingers to Kanbyoo's face. Lightly, he drew them across his dark skin, along the smooth contours of his cheeks and chin. And then, without warning, the man's fingers sprouted long, razor-sharp claws, like those of a wolf. The edges cut into Kanbyoo's skin, tracing fine bloody lines down his face and neck.

"Who are you?" Kanbyoo stammered. He was beginning to feel very weak and light-headed. 

The mazoku leaned close to Kanbyoo and whispered conspiratorially in his ear, "Now that, my friend, is a secret."

"That phrase!" Kanbyoo recognized it. Zelas had used to say it when she didn't feel like answering questions. "You... You're..."

"That's right. The champion of Juu-ou-sama. And now that you know my identity, it's time to finish this little game. Can't have you tattling after all. Don't worry." Even in the darkness Kanbyoo could make out the maniacal grin set beneath slit, purple eyes. "I'll put in a good word for you with Hellmaster Phibrizzo!"

Kanbyoo did not feel how Xelloss cut through his flesh with his clawed hands. He didn't feel it when the servant of Beastmaster ripped out his heart. He didn't even have time to wonder why Dolphin's spell of protection had worn off, or why Zelas' promise of eternal life was denied. He was dead long before that.

***

Deep Sea Dolphin was still rummaging through useless scrolls and papers when the messenger came from the palace. Hesitantly he leaned close to her and whispered something in her ear before making his exit. Eyes flashing, Dolphin stood, letting the scroll on her lap fall to the floor. She looked directly at Zelas as she announced, "Kanbyoo has been brutally murdered."

"Well, don't look at me," Zelas exclaimed, annoyed. "I've been here the whole time. And I have plenty of witnesses." She gestured to the room full of mazoku. 

"Who's been murdered?" Gaav knit his eyebrows together and gave Dolphin an odd look.

"It's none of your business," Dolphin answered haughitly. "Where is your priest, Zelas?"

Zelas snorted and sent an inquiry through the Astral Plane. "In the servants' quarters," she replied.

Pushing past Zelas roughly, Dolphin stalked from the room with Zelas on her tail. Phibrizzo and his brothers exchanged curious glances and followed suit.

Upon entering the sevants' quarters, the whole group spotted Xelloss sitting peacefully where he had been earlier, back to the doorway, humming softly. Sensing their presences, he turned around cheerfully and held up something. "Look, Master! I've made you a daisy chain!"


	8. In Which Some Things Are Cleared Up and ...

A/N: Gah! You people are too generous to me! I just hope I can keep the story as good as you're expecting. Tell me, does it need more action? I feel like maybe it's too bogged down with people thinking about stuff...Well, let me know if it does. As far as writing the story goes, I am usually about three chapters ahead of what's posted on ff.net, however, I consider fictions to be works of art so I usually proofread/revise each chapter about eight times before posting. That means, if you make a suggestion and I agree with it, it stands a good chance of being reflected as soon as in the next chapter.

Anyway, yes, I am planning on having Xelloss' sadistic streak start revealing itself. The problem is, since this fic is intended to be Xelloss' life as seen by others, we never get inside his head. I keep arguing with myself about whether I should write a chapter from his POV, but so far the No-you-shouldn't side has always won. Hopefully I will be able to adequately convey Xelloss' nature by just having people observe him.

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Kai-ou Deep Sea Dolphin watched thoughtfully as Kanbyoo's mutilated body was fed to the pair of sharks who guarded the physical entrance to her underwater palace. As the water around them turned red with blood, she had to to turn her head. True she was a mazoku lord, but she got no enjoyment from watching a body be torn into shreds by sharks, or any animal for that matter. After all, Kanbyoo was already dead, and there was no delicious pain to be found in his empty mind.

Dolphin shuddered again at the thought of his terrible death. She was certain that none of her servants had committed the crime. After all, like herself, all of her minions detested physical violence and gore. When it was necessary to kill a human, they always found clever ways to torment his mental state or fill him with negative emotion to the point of insanity or suicide. Never would they have attacked him so. Dolphin and her kind were not hunters by nature.

But she could think of someone who was: her damnable sister. Dolphin shook her head; surely Zelas had not found the courage to so boldly attack her. The sea queen was fairly certain she had Zelas under control. Ever since she had perceived the threat that Zelas posed to her, she had taken careful measures to ensure that Zelas never questioned her older sister's utter superiority. It had taken some time, but Zelas had been young then, and inexperienced. And now it was too late. Zelas was broken, insecure and full of doubt. She could never have worked up the strength to do this.

Weary of the whole mess, Dolphin turned and swam into her palace, retreating to her chambers where it was peaceful and quiet. Her priestess, Blue, came to report everything that had happened while she had been away. Dolphin regarded her servant, who had carefully made herself into the shape of a mermaid, although her composition remained gelatinous, blue-tinted and semi-transparent, but she couldn't focus on the priestess' words. Rather, all she could think about was the troubling revelation of Zelas' little general-priest.

More than anything, Dolphin had wanted to know how Zelas had accomplished it. She had been sure her younger sister was incapable of such reproduction. And yet, she could glean nothing of any worth from Zelas' mind, as usual. The problem was that Zelas *was* a hunter by nature. Her thoughts, her emotions, her very being were built along the base and primitive notions of the predator. Although Dolphin could read Zelas' mind as easily as she could the minds of the others, the images she received were always cryptic and undecipherable to her. Despite the control she exercised over the younger mazoku, she could not even begin to comprehend the primal urges that drove Zelas on, and thanks to that, she, for the most part, could not make head or tails of the information she stole. This was part of why she found Zelas so infuriating...and so frightening.

"I should have brought you along with me, to the North," Dolphin said absently, cutting off whatever Blue had been talking about. "Then, perhaps you could give me your opinion on that Xelloss character."

Blue considered for a moment. "When I felt your uneasiness, Kai-ou-sama, I reached out with my mind to see what was occurring in that frozen palace," she said. Blue had tremendous psychic powers which enabled her to have visions of far away occurrances, as well as telepathically link to her mistress at any time. "But I cannot say that I was able to make anything of the alien presence I found there. I tried to sense its intent, but I learned nothing."

Dolphin closed her eyes wearily for a moment. That was an idea. She had been concentrating so hard on reading Zelas, that she had not thought to enter the mind of the young priest. He had seemed so daft and worthless, that it hadn't occurred to her that he might know anything of importance. But suddenly an idea was dawning on her. That Xelloss might be a clown, but surely he had a connection to his mistress. Surely Zelas had imparted her knowledge and desires to her little attendant. And if that were so, perhaps Dolphin could merely use the boy as a means of getting to Zelas' intentions. He would be a spy for her by unknowingly providing the information she sought.

The more she thought about it, the more Dolphin was thrilled by her plan. It was the perfect solution. After all, every time she had successfully broken through the jungle of Zelas' outer thoughts, she had been afraid to delve deeper, afraid of what she might see or find in the dark recesses of Zelas' mind. But the priest Xelloss...from what she had seen he was far less predatory than his master. In fact, from what Sherra and Rashart had reported, he was simple-minded, childish, and disliked violence. If that was true, he would be a far easier target than Zelas and should fall prey to Dolphin's gentle advances in no time.

Smiling, Dolphin let her body relax, swaying to the gentle rhythms of the current, and set her mind to seeking the best way to ensure she had reason to pay Zelas a visit very soon. It was then that **IT** happened.

***

The moment the King of Beasts and her servant returned to Wolfpack Island, she set upon him.

"Fool!" she cried, and, with the mere flick of her wrist, she blasted him with powerful waves of magic that dropped him on all fours. "How dare you embarrass me in front of those I most wanted to impress?" The servants who had appeared to greet their master quickly backed away and retreated to the shadows at the sight of Xelloss convulsing with pain on the floor. "Well, answer me! What have you to say for yourself, servant?"

Xelloss raised his head a bit, panting, his face contorted with anguish. "I...d..did not betray you...Master." he gasped. He sounded rather confused, which only served to fuel her rancor.

"The hell you didn't! You made a fool of yourself and me! And you *knew* I wanted to impress those damnable siblings of mine! I see what's going on. Obviously one really can't trust anyone but oneself..."

"Master..." Xelloss tried several times to get the attention of his raving mistress. "...Juu-ou-sama..."

Finally she glanced back at his miserable, trembling form. "What do you want?" she spat.

"I brought you... a souvenir..."

Intrigued, Zelas composed herself and favored Xelloss with a sidelong glare. She ended the stream of destructive magic she had been channeling into his body. "Well...?"

Raising himself into a sitting position, Xelloss reclined, cross-legged, on the stone floor and caught his metaphorical breath. After a moment, he reached into a dimensional pocket and retrieved something which he held up to her, his head bowed reverently. Zelas knelt to get a better look, and gasped. The thing was a heart.

The heart looked human, and fresh. Little rivets of blood ran down its sides and fell to the floor with slight plopping noises. Some of the blood ran over Xelloss' fingers and down his arms, but he didn't move from his position. Slowly, Zelas took the heart from him and examined it. Without knowing how, she knew where it came from.

"This is Kanbyoo's heart..." she stated.

Xelloss looked up, brushing his bangs out of his eyes with one bloodied hand. "It seemed to me that Kanbyoo was having trouble deciding his loyalties. A good servant gives his entire heart and soul to his master and never wavers. That mortal didn't seem to have grasped that, so I decided to help him along a bit by giving his heart to you myself," he said, with a wink.

Zelas stared at him a moment. "*You* killed Kanbyoo...How did you know about him?"

Xelloss laughed and indicated his staff, which had fallen to the floor several feet away. "Remember, Juu-ou-sama, you gave me your power...and your knowledge."

Zelas wondered if she had given him more than she knew. She hadn't really expected him to know things about her past. Sensing her surprise, he continued, "And even had you not, I was *created* from your pain and tears. I know all about how you feel towards my lords, your siblings." He inched closer to her, leaning forward, and speaking in a low, conspiratorial voice. "I know your pain. And we will get our revenge."

Suddenly it occurred to Zelas what the creature was getting at. "Revenge? Against whom?" she asked sharply, drawing away from him. 

"Why, against Kai-ou Deep Sea Dolphin, of course," he responded jovially, as though he were suggesting that they have a picnic, when, in fact, he was suggesting that they mount a campaign against one of the most powerful beings in the world. Zelas began to be filled with fear at her servant's rashness and initiative. For a minion, he did far too much independent thinking and decision-making. How dare he go behind her back this way?

"Were you planning to inform me of this, servant?" she hissed, suddenly incensed. 

"Naturally, Master. I just did. I only didn't tell you the specifics so that Kai-ou-sama wouldn't be able to read your mind and get an idea of what I was planning. Besides, I thought you would figure it out. You're the one who wanted me to attack Kanbyoo."

"I did not! When did I ever say such a thing?" Zelas fumed.

"Well, you never said it," Xelloss admitted. "But I sensed your desire. I thought revenge was what you wanted."

"Well, I don't want it." As much as Zelas hated her sister, the thought of actually retaliating filled her with cold fear. She felt Dolphin's shadow looming over everything she did, and though she longed to be free of it, her mind refused to even consider the idea.

Xelloss looked up at her curiously. After a moment he insisted, "But...you do."

"Why, you!" Zelas struck him with long, clawed fingers. Fingers capable of ripping through astral matter. A wide gash was left in his cheek and she could see his astral body shimmering faintly behind the human projection. 

Zelas was beside herself; Such a willful servant was a dangerous thing. He presumed to know her will, presumed to know it better than she herself did! And just because his assumptions about Kanbyoo had been right, didn't mean he would be right every time. And it would only take one devastating failure...

For a moment Zelas merely sat and tried to regain control of her temper. She reminded herself that he was very young and inexperienced, due to her having kept him hidden here on the Island with nothing but her bitterness and anger as company. It was really no surprise he had reacted as he did. She knew he was desperate to please her, and it must have killed him to have to sit here all these years and feel her pain and be unable to do anything about it. So he had jumped on the first chance that came his way...

The more she thought about it, the more Zelas felt uncomfortable. Why did she balk at his suggestion? Had she always been this timid, this subdued? Had there never been a time when she would have eagerly plotted Dolphin's demise with Xelloss? Dizzily, the Beastmaster let herself fall backwards into a sitting position, her arms shaking and her hair standing on end. She felt as though she were falling into an endless black chasm, and nobody was there to hear her screams...except Xelloss.

At last Zelas met Xelloss' gaze. He was hunched over on the floor still, one hand pressed to his slashed cheek. When she made eye contact, he dropped his gaze to the floor and bent all the way over in a position of utter humility. "Master, I have disappointed you," he said in a completely toneless voice. "Destroy me, if you will."

Zelas laughed lightly. "I don't wish to destroy you, servant." She sighed. "I only want you to understand that you must not hide things from *me*. You can never be sure that what you think I want is what I really want. And besides, Dolphin is far more powerful than either of us. You are going to have to learn to make correct assessments regarding your chances against certain enemies."

"But that's what I was doing, Master. When your enemies do not see you as a threat, they lower their guard and drop their pretenses. In this way, you can much more accurately evaluate their capabilities. I have been observing my lords and their servants carefully since I first met them, while they, on the other hand, dismissed me from the start, and therefore know nothing about me."

The intelligence of Xelloss' arguments was making Zelas' pride sting even more. Of course it was all obvious to her now what his intentions had been, and she was surprised she hadn't guessed it before. It all added to her growing impression that she no longer knew herself. At last she made a judgment. "You have done well, Xelloss. However, you must still be punished for being so presumptuous. Next time don't forget who is the boss around here." 

Xelloss flashed her a sheepish grin. "Of course, Juu-ou-sama. I never presumed to be more all-knowing or all-powerful than you! I submit to your will!"

"Submit to my will...?" Zelas repeated thoughtfully. "That gives me an idea for your punishment. You've been a naughty boy, and I am in desperate need of some cheering up."

Xelloss raised his eyebrow warily. Before he could move, Zelas had materialized a spiked dog collar out of thin air and slapped it around his neck. Attached to it was a chain which she wrapped around her hand tightly. With a wink, her white gown changed into black leather lingerie and a whip appeared in her hand. "I know you've been getting practice," she purred evilly, "so you'd better be damn good!"

Xelloss' eyes widened for a moment, then he smiled slyly. "This isn't such a bad punishment..."

"And after this you're going to spend three years in a monastery under strict orders not to disturb, kill, or otherwise destroy anyone or anything."

Xelloss' expression drooped and little sweatdrops formed around his face. "Not the monastery with the monks who chant about eternal rewards coming to the meek and all that?" he moaned.

"The very same," Zelas gave him a wicked grin. "I hear they chant in shifts to make sure that someone is singing the praises of goodness and generosity 24 hours a day..."

The great, stone hall still rang with the echoes of Xelloss' screams long after he had been dragged off to the Master Bedchamber by his mistress. 

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A/N: Heh heh. Well, Umi-chan, I guess you could say that I ADORE Zelas/Xelloss of any kind. It's my favorite Slayers pairing and the only Xelloss/anybody I officially support. I love to explore the possibilities, but I'm not totally decided on exactly how I view it. I guess you could say that I see them as a mixture of Master/Slave, Parent/Child, and Lover/Beloved all in one. Of course, I support the canon idea that mazoku can't love truly in the way we usually view love, but I think mazoku lords have a very special relationship with their servants. I have a whole theory on it, but I won't bore you by posting it here. Suffice to say that it involves the fact that the servants were created from the lords and my own definition of love. However, I am always open to new suggestions and I search out all the info or stories on them that I can in order to broaden my horizons. I just wish more people wrote about it. (I do collect Zelas/Xelloss doujinshi though. Have some new ones coming in the mail. Maybe they will give me new inspiration and insight to their relationship.) As for their physical relationship, as in this chapter, I have always sort of viewed them as lovers. I don't think incest has any application to mazoku at all, so I don't see a physical relationship as a problem, and since I consider them as both devoted to pleasure, there's not any reason why they wouldn't want to experiment at least. By bring back his heart, Xelloss is kind of symbolizing how he is taking Kanbyoo's place in Zelas' world. Anyway, yes, you could probably call this a Zelas/Xelloss fic, but please, please tell me if you think it gets too sappy, OOC, or unrealistic. I don't want it to ruin the story. I am just trying to write them how I see them in my mind.

(For the record, I officially support ONLY Zelas/Xelloss, Zelgadis/Amelia, Zangulus/Martina, Valgaav/Filia, and Gaav/Valgaav. I will actually also support Xelloss/Lina and Xelloss/Zelgadis as well as long as it doesn't involve Xelloss "loving" either one. I also have a long theory on mazoku/human love, but I won't go into that one here either. I see reason for both of them, especially Xel/Zel. There are certain points that could work there involving Xelloss abusing/using Zelgadis. However, I still don't officially support these. I see _NO_ reason for Xelloss/Filia or Xelloss/Amelia at all. And while I think Lina and Gourry have a wonderful relationship, would probably die for each other, and are very cute together, I think that they make a terrible romantic couple in the sense L/G stories usually show them as. I support it on and off depending on the portrayal, but I don't consider it one of my favorite couplings. And back to Xelloss/Lina, although I DON'T officially support this, for some reason I have a terrible obsession with it. I read all sorts of fics/doujinshi concerning it and in an AU fic, I _definitely_ support it. Go figure. I guess sometimes you have to indulge...


	9. In Which the Plot Thickens

A/N: Heh heh. So here is the revised version of this chapter. Actually, it's not very different, but I added a few things I couldn't add before. I previously updated from the school lab computer where I couldn't access the original file to change stuff. I know, I know, you should never just update out of impatience; I should have just waited, but whatever. I was waiting for my stupid final project to render and it seemed like a good time to do it. Anyway, thanks for the reviews everyone. And thanks as usual shikome kido mi for the input!! I think we are on the same page concerning mazoku "love". And I realize that people are just rounding when they say 1000, but I still don't think 1000 or anywhere near it is old enough. And as for the increase in power, that's a good point about him not showing it off, but from the way people treat him and talk about him, I still get that impression. Well, it's just my opinion, anyway. And about the wolves. Yes, sorry. I thought that might be confusing. I only did it that way because, of course, Zelas would be the alpha male of the pack. And I thought Xelloss would probably be her mate. I did it partially also to show how asexually I see mazoku, how coincidental their sex is. I'll try to make it more clear.

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The sun had only set a few hours ago on the majestic Wolfpack Island and sounds of life could still be heard from the sturdy little mud hut on the edge of the village. Most prominent was the sound of a child wailing. His cradle was situated at the back of the hut, underneath a large window and the sound and scent carried easily to the wolf pack that lay quietly in wait at the edge of the clearing.

The alpha wolf, a large, black male, licked his lips expectantly. He was, of course, none other than the physical embodiment of Juu-ou Zelas. When hunting with the pack, Zelas always shed her female human form and took one which was more akin to her canine companions. The wolf that was Zelas reached out with his mind and dulled the human occupants instincts, suppressing their natural ability to react to outside stimuli and effectively placing them in a zombie state. He left their minds clear, that they might take in the scene with perfect understanding and produce the horror, fear, and desperation he longed for. Then he turned to his mate, Xellos in the form of a she-wolf, and commanded her to retrieve the human child.

The sleek, gray she-wolf launched herself into the air and easily cleared the low window sill. There was a loud thumping noise followed by a cascade of delicious terror from the human family who watched, helpless, as Xelloss lifted the child gently with her teeth. The jolt as Xelloss landed again on the soft ground outside the hut shook the child from its stupor and it began to sob ceaselessly. Xelloss set the child down on a patch of grass and Zelas silenced the whelp with a swift snap of her powerful jaws on it's flabby neck. Its head hung limply and blood gushed from the wound, spilling onto the ground. Zelas could see the saliva dripping off of Xelloss' lolling tongue at the sight of the blood, and giving a curt nod, he stepped aside to allow his servant her choice of the best parts. Zelas, himself, had eaten his fill that night and had decided to leave the rest of the catch to the pack. Mentally he told his companions to do as they wished with the remaining members of the human family and watched as they eagerly raided the hut. 

At the last moment, Zelas allowed the humans full use of their limbs. It pleased him to feel the slight spark of hope this fueled in them, and it pleased him even more when that hope was crushed only seconds later by the sensation of large fangs sinking into their soft guts. When Xelloss had finished with the babe, she joined the pack in cleaning out the hut. As Zelas watched the pup disappear over the window, he let his mind wander away form the physical constraints of his wolfish body, returning to his typical female consciousness, and sighed. 

Really Xelloss was a pup no longer. Five hundred long years had passed since the imp's creation and in that time it had learned much and performed well. Indeed, Zelas had begun using the general/priest as her representative for nearly every occasion. The last few generations of Islanders did not even know what their queen looked like. Rather, they brought all of their requests, complaints, and offerings to Xelloss, and he brought all of Zelas' responses and commands back to them. Indeed, many of them had come to believe that Xelloss, himself, was the Beastmaster and had begun to call him by that name. This didn't really bother Zelas. In most things she had simply given him free reign, telling him to respond to them as he desired. The result was a noticeable decrease in the number of complaints and a corresponding increase in the number of sacrificial offerings. The imp sometimes brought prisoners back to the palace in order to test out various methods of torture on them, sometimes killed petitioners before they could even finish presenting their pleas, and quite frequently set locals free in Zelas' expansive gardens and played cat and mouse with them for hours, or days, before finally finishing them off.

He was now capable of creating the most perfect human appearance Zelas had ever seen, outside of those taken by her siblings, and his extensive studies of human lifestyles and tendencies never ceased. He had become an invaluable spy and was frequently sent to infiltrate human organizations in search of some service or piece of information. This was exactly what Zelas had in mind for him now. That water-logged bitch, Deep Sea Dolphin, had been causing trouble as usual. This time she claimed to have discovered some very crucial information on the whereabouts of the bone staff the first piece of Shabranigdo was supposed to have. Xelloss had confided in his mistress that his vision in the Seeing Orb had been completely authentic, even if the rest of his behavior that day had not been. Zelas had meant to keep this information to herself, but somehow Dolphin had managed to suck that tidbit from her sister's mind and had made no small ruckus about it.

Dolphin claimed that she had seen a vision of the future concerning the staff, but she would say no more about it and insisted that a formal meeting be called at which time, and no other, she would unveil her prophesy. The whole thing seemed suspect to Zelas, and she felt there was a good chance that Dolphin had merely obtained the information from some drunken sailor and was just putting on airs. If that were the case, her Xelloss would have no trouble seeking out the source of the rumor and bringing it back to the Island. Then she would be able to publicly humiliate her sister, and that would surely be the sweetest thing in the world.

She would have to be cautious about it, of course. Zelas had decided to let her siblings and their infernal servants continue to believe that Xelloss was a fool. She kept him mostly out of sight and allowed him to attend the occasional family function where he duly made an idiot of himself. He seemed to lack any semblance of pride or self-consciousness, and this pleased his master. He would undertake the most demeaning and trivial of tasks without complaint. Zelas nodded smugly to herself. Yes, he was certainly turning out well.

A sudden movement caused Zelas' attention to return to the present moment. Through her wolf's eyes she saw Xelloss the she-wolf returning, the fur around her snout stained with blood and a satisfied look on her canine face. After pausing a moment to modify the alpha wolf's vocal chords, Zelas spoke in the human tongue, "Come here, servant. I have a new job for you."

***

The young man's head jerked up as the door to the tavern swung open and a cloaked figure entered. The stranger wore the typical priests' garb of the time and carried a large, plain walking stick whose only adornment was an enormous ruby. The young man nodded. The priest's outfit had changed in accordance with the ever-fluctuating fashions of the world, but his appearance remained largely the same. Same goofy purple hair, same idiotic smile, same aura of pure evil.

Oh yes, most people couldn't feel it. Hell, most mazoku couldn't either, but *he* could. To him, it was all too obvious. Slowly the young man stood from his bar stool, abandoning his untouched liquor, and approached the table where the priest had taken a seat. Slyly he slid onto the chair opposite the priest and leaned forward across the table. "Good day, traveler," he greeted amiably.

The priest did a good job of covering his shock. A good job, but not a perfect one. "Mei-ou-sama, to what do I owe this honor?" he said coolly. 

"Oh, I just figured I'd drop in and see how you were doing." Phibrizzo shrugged. An awkward silence followed in which neither mazoku batted an eye, nor did their forced smiles falter for even a second. At last Xelloss spoke.

"I didn't recognize you in that form."

A sour expression crossed Phibrizzo's face and he twirled his jet-black ponytail absently. "The damn bartender kept telling me I was too young to be in here, so finally I just changed forms. I didn't want to disrupt your little mission here so, I spared him for the time being. I'll likely fry him later." There was a moment of silence again. "I came here to tell you something."

"Oh goody!" Xelloss' smile brightened. "I love gossip. And don't worry," he winked. "I can keep a secret."

Phibrizzo ignored him. "I notice your master sent you to check up on Dolphin's story. You must be aware of the rivalry between those two." Xelloss shrugged by way of response. "Do you know why your master hates the kai-ou?"

"It is not my place to question Juu-ou-sama's actions," Xellos replied casually. 

"It's because Dolphin has Zelas under her control. Zelas is a pawn in Dolphin's game, and there's nothing she can do about it. She isn't even aware of how much she's being enslaved." Phibrizzo paused to let this sink in. He could sense the hatred and rage that emanated from Xelloss like steam from a hotspring. He had to admit he was impressed by the young priest's control. The smile never wavered. Abruptly, Phibrizzo changed the subject. "I noticed the work you did for her in Kebluun last century. Pretty impressive, though I must say, not very spectacular. Are your results always so low-key?"

"Well, you know how I am. Bright lights hurt my eyes, and loud noises give me a headache..."

"You can cut the act," Phibrizzo smiled smugly. "We both know that you, of all people, are not easily spooked. You may have the others eating out of your hand, but I can see past your little charade, servant of Metallium." 

The Hellmaster was momentarily cut off when a waitress appeared to serve them. He ordered the most expensive meal on the menu and sent the girl bustling off. When she was out of hearing range, Xelloss leaned back in his seat and said calmly, "Flashy displays of power are for the insecure. The man who is sure of himself does not need to appease his pride by showing off. You had something to tell me?"

Phibrizzo's eyes lit with delight; Zelas' general/priest was everything he had expected him to be. With a wave of his hand, he continued his speech. "It's true. Since we mazoku have existed, Dolphin has seen Zelas as a rival because Zelas represents everything that Dolphin is not. They detest each other because they are natural enemies, being exact opposites. However, Dolphin has had the upper hand all these years more thanks to her back-handed dealings than her actual power. She had been manipulating Zelas for millenia--subtly molding the way Zelas views herself and everyone else, slowly eroding her self-confidence, forcing her to be right where Dolphin wants her. She creates crippling fear and doubt in Zelas' mind and twists her emotions so that they consume her. That's Dolphin's specialty, of course, psychological manipulation..."

"Why are you telling me this?" Xelloss asked quietly, his face was expressionless and his eyes had opened into narrow slits.

"Because I don't think Dolphin should get away with this..."

Xelloss suddenly smiled again and gave Phibrizzo a sly wink. "She won't tell you her 'secret information' on Lord Ruby Eyes' resurrection, eh?"

"What?"

"Oh, come on." The purple-haired priest narrowed his eyes further. "She won't tell you the content of her visions, and you want her to get what's coming to her. Only you don't want to do it yourself. How much more convenient if the blame can't be traced back to you, or any of your servants, eh? Get someone else to do the dirty work?"

"Why, you!" Phibrizzo leapt from his seat, knocking the wooden chair over with a loud clatter. He nearly set the idiot priest's head on fire, but he remembered just in time that this was neither the time nor the place for theatrics. Instead he righted his chair and, taking his place on it again, he leaned forward and growled into Xelloss' ear. "Watch your smart ass tongue, Juu-jinkan. Remember with whom you speak." Xelloss appeared unfazed, but Phibrizzo could taste his cold fear.

"I meant no disrespect," the priest said hastily, although the cocky tone had not entirely left his voice. "In fact, I like the way you think."

"Hmmm," Phibrizzo straightened slowly. "I'll forgive you because I like the way you think too. Listen to me. I want information. I know my siblings are a treacherous bunch, but I don't have time to watch them myself at the moment, and my own servants are not suited for espionage. If you could hunt down the information I seek and bring it to me, I would be very pleased. Of course, you would have to use some discretion. I don't want my siblings to know what you discover....*Any* of my siblings..."

"You are asking me to go behind my master?" Xelloss' voice was stony.

"It's for her own good. And the information is useless to her anyway. As it is, she is too far under Dolphin's power to use what advantages she has. Until she is free from Dolphin's influence, Zelas is worthless to me. But if you want to save her, you'll do this for me. And don't fear; I know your type. If you do this for me, you'll not go unrewarded. I could make it well worth the effort. Things Zelas could never give you will be yours--powers far beyond your current comprehension." Phibrizzo shrugged and stood. He walked around the table until he stood directly behind Xelloss. Xelloss sat as if frozen, staring straight ahead at the spot Phibrizzo had vacated. "Think about it, my friend."

With that, Phibrizzo walked cheerfully towards the tavern's door. "Sir!" the waitress from earlier called out to him. She was balancing the enormous culinary creation that he had ordered on one hand. "What shall I do with this?"

Phibrizzo laughed and waved a hand absently at Xelloss, who still hadn't moved. "Put it on his bill!" And then he disappeared.

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A/N: Here I will comment on Xelloss' age. I've frequently seen his age stated as 1000 years. I assume that this has something to do with Xelloss' comment about the Kouma Sensou being 1012(?) years ago. Now, seeing as my Xelloss is 500 years old in this chapter, based on that idea, the Kouma Sensou should already have happened roughly half a millennium ago, but my story is obviously set before it... Well, let me just say that I find that idea that Xelloss is 1000 years old absolutely absurd. Firstly, if the rumor is not canon and is based on Xelloss' comment, well, there's nothing about the fact that he was *alive* 1000 years ago that implies that he was *born* 1000 years ago. Secondly, the Kouma Sensou was 1012 years ago, which means Xelloss is at least 1012 years old, so 1000 is already an invalid age. And in any case, do they really mean to suggest that Xelloss went to fight in the war immediately after being born? I agree that Xelloss is strong. I disagree with the idea that he is so strong he could kill off an entire clan of dragons a few decades after coming into existence. For immortal races, 10, 50, 100 years is not really very much. There's no way Xelloss could have matured in that time period unless you assume mazoku who were created from a piece of a higher mazoku are born totally matured and in full command of all their powers. And maybe that's the canon truth. I confess I don't know. But frankly, that idea just doesn't appeal to me as much. Personalities develop over time, and it seems to me that if mazoku all just jumped out of other mazoku fully grown and rearing to go, they would have to be little more than lesser clones of the parent mazoku because they would have nothing but the parent's knowledge and experiences to base their own opinions on. And while I believe mazoku have very close connections to their parents, for my story, I'd prefer to think that they grow and develop as individuals over time. 

So I figure he was already an adult during the war. You don't get the sense that he has dramatically increased in power or experience since the war, the way I assume he would if he was an infant at that time and was now 1000 years old, so I assume more time passed before the war than after (growth development usually starts out fast and slows down). Therefore, I have decided to make him approximately 1376 at the time of the war and correspondingly, 2388 at the time of Slayers NEXT. Besides, like I said, for immortal races, centuries are not very long periods of time relatively. I think 1000 is a pretty pathetic age for Xelloss. I always imagined him as something a bit more impressive, especially if the Mazoku Lords are so old. For them I have found the most common rumor is 5000 years old. I agree with this. So, at the time of the war Zelas is about 3988. Wow. What a rant!


	10. In Which More Than One Plan is Set Into ...

A/N: Well, maybe it seemed like I dropped off the face of the earth, especially as I had been updating fairly frequently. Sorry for the long silence. I was very busy trying to organize my affairs concerning my final exams, etc, and then over Winter Break I was very sidetracked by my sister's Christmas present, a PS2 combined with Kingdom Hearts and FFX. *Thinks of Wakka x Lulu and sighs* Anyway, I finally got around to proofreading my latest chapter, so if y'all haven't forgotten about me, here it is, submitted for your approval. I hope it's decent. It's hard to get back into my writing style after such a long dormancy.

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Rashart stiffened as he felt the cold touch of steel upon his throat. He'd lost. He'd really lost. Rashart blinked slowly. He still couldn't figure out how it had happened; it had all been so fast. He was in the palace of Beastmaster Zelas, accompanying his master to the gathering at which Deep Sea Dolphin would at last reveal what she had learned. The servant of Beastmaster had belatedly accepted his challenge to a sword fight, and he had eagerly agreed. There was nothing he loved so much as a good fight. He had thought it would be an easy victory, and a good story to tell Master Gaav. But now...

Rashart raised one beefy hand to his neck and took hold of the Beast Priest's arm. Slowly, he began to move the ruby-handled sword away from his throat as he tried to maneuver out of the priest's grasp. "Well, you've won..." Rashart said, still confused by the whole affair.

Suddenly he felt himself thrust back against Xelloss' chest. The general/priest certainly was strong. "What about my prize?" he hissed in Rashart's ear. It was funny, but somehow Rashart didn't think the cheerful mazoku was smiling anymore.

"I'll give it to ya, I'll give it to ya." Rashart attempted to remove himself once again from pressure of the ruby blade. Xelloss kept it firmly in place. "You know, a blade can't really hurt my body..."

"No," Xelloss agreed amiably, "But _this _can." The sword suddenly became a staff in his hands. The cold, hard ruby at it's tip was crushed close against Rashart's cheek. Rashart felt the power emanating from the staff--the beginnings of a spell. He hesitated. The sword fight had been more of a show of prowess and power. Rashart was afraid his master would not be happy if he actually started a fight with the Lady Zelas' general. He was under strict orders to behave.

"I _said_ I'd give it to ya, didn't I?" Rashart muttered. 

"Now," Xelloss encouraged. "Tell me all of it, now!"

"Ha-ou-sama just wanted a word with Gaav-sama, that's all." Rashart shrugged as best he could while in his current position.

"I know that. What was it about?"

"About Mei-ou-sama. It was just a discussion..." Rashart somehow got the idea that he shouldn't be talking about this.

As though sensing the hesitation, Xelloss pressed the staff closer to Rashart's throat and the power swelling at it's tip increased. It began to burn against Rashart's body. "Ha-ou offered to support Gaav-sama if he would agree to help him confront Mei-ou. I don't see what's so important about it anyway. Gaav-sama refused. It's not like he'd actually do anything. He told Ha-ou that he should keep all his damn plotting and scheming to himself and start concentrating on important things, like Lord Ruby Eyes' resurec..."

"What were they planning to do to Mei-ou?" Zelas' general interrupted. He didn't sound very interested in the Dark Lord's resurrection. Still, a faint amusement had crept into his voice. "Do you mean to say Ha-ou actually approached Gaav about _eliminating_ Mei-ou?"

"That's Maryuu-ou-sama to you," Rashart started, but he was cut off by a burst of black energy as it tore at him, leaving him clutching his side. He looked up at Xelloss and growled. "If you're tryin' to pick a fight..."

"I'm asking, did they mention getting rid of Phibrizzo permanently?"

"I don't remember. I didn't understand much of..." The energy burst again, making Rashart feel nauseous and disoriented. He felt his control over his human form slipping. "Yes!" he roared in pain.

"I thought that might jog your memory..." This time it was Xelloss who was cut off as he side stepped to evade a lunge by the Demon Dragon King's hulking general. 

"Now, now," Xelloss shook a finger at the other mazoku. "There's no need for violence. If you'll just tell me what I want to know, we can dispense with it altogether."

"Nobody pushes me around," Rashart responded angrily, preparing an offensive attack, should one become necessary.

"But you did promise to tell me what you knew if I won...and I won." Xelloss reminded him cockily. Rashart grumbled to himself. That was the part he still didn't understand. How had the young general beat him so quickly, and so easily? But he had. And Rashart got the distinct impression that if he didn't keep his word, things would get very violent very quickly. And Lord Gaav would not approve. While he loved war and chaos, he didn't want anything to happen that might make Dolphin decide not to give him the information he needed after all.

"Fine," he muttered finally. "Ha-ou-sama told Gaav-sama that if he would help him get rid of the Hellmaster, he would ensure that Gaav-sama got Kai-ou-sama's information without delay, and any information she might come across in the future."

"I see," Xelloss said softly. Rashart, who still couldn't believe he had lost, was about to challenge Xelloss to a rematch, but the other general, suddenly laughing, said, "I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm afraid I have pressing business elsewhere. Ja," and phased out. 

Rashart sullenly let the power he had gathered dissipate. "What was that all about?" he wondered to himself outloud.

***

Dolphin sat nervously on a pile of cushions while Zelas spoke. She hoped that everyone was too focused on her sister's speech to notice her restlessness. She, herself, didn't hear a word. She was completely focused on the figure seated beside Zelas' throne. Xelloss.  
  
Dolphin had insisted the gathering be held on the Island, citing Zelas' typical lack of participation in family events as her reason. Everyone had undoubtedly put it down to just another move on her part to annoy Zelas. The truth, of course, was that Dolphin wanted a chance to be near Xelloss. Zelas so often left him home that she had feared holding the gathering at any other place might result in his absence. She had also worried that Zelas might choose that day to send her sevant away on some errand. But luckily, Zelas seemed to be aware that now was too important a time to be lacking in help.  
  
According to her plan, the Kai-ou had approached Xelloss several times, trying to gain entrance to his mind. She found, however, that while he didn't seem to be particularly sharp, he did know how to guard his thoughts. To discover any more than his most general and trivial of thoughts, she would have to meld with him, she decided. This required making contact with his astral being and joining her mind with his for a brief period of time. It was much more complicated than simply reading his mind, but it would allow her much better insight to his real thoughts. As it was, she had discovered that, either out of stupidity and lack of attention span or out of mistrust, he tended to fill his thoughts with extremely trivial things, such as the taste of a slice of cake or the color of the sky at any given moment. He also busied himself with extremely silly tasks, such as chasing his tail (he sometimes grew one) or waiting on Zelas. This caused his mind to be ever full of useless information. Yes, it would definitely take a melding of their minds for Dolphin to sort out the pointless trivialities from the real stuff.  
  
In order to find an opportunity to perform the melding, Dolphin had asked Xelloss to grant her a private audience. She had admitted to him that she wished to exchange information with him, had promised him gifts and rewards if he complied, and he had responded that he would consider it. Since then Dolphin had been anxious from waiting, wondering what was going through the priest's mind. She had tracked Zelas' mind carefully to see if the priest would relate her request to his master, but she could detect no trace of the information entering Zelas' awareness. Dolphin noticed suddenly that the Beast General had met her gaze. His eyes were dancing with amusement and he winked slyly at her from across the room. Dolphin smiled sweetly in return, not wanting him get the idea that her attentions were anything but well-intentioned. He moved one heavily adorned arm from his lap and used it to support his head in an expression of boredom, causing his many bracelets to jingle softly. For the formal occasion of Zelas entertaining the dark lords in her throne room, the general/priest had forgone his typical garments for something a little more...Zelas-like. The two were wearing matching white robes which revealed more than they covered and far too many bracelets, rings, and other trinkets for Dolphin's taste. On his feet he wore golden sandals and Dolphin could make out the dark, puckered lines of several tribal tattooes on various parts of his body. The whole disgusting display was so typically Zelas that Dolphin could only shake her head. And yet, there was something about seeing Xelloss so outfitted that...intrigued her.  
  
Xelloss suddenly broke the contact of their eyes and stood. The abrupt movement shook Dolphin out of her reverie, and she noticed with some surprise that Zelas had finished talking. She had no idea what her sister might have said during the whole speech, but she knew in any case that she was to present her prophesy to the four when the sun set. She had already arranged it. She presumed Zelas was giving the others time to prepare themselves for what would likely be a long and tiring meeting. After all, information about the whereabouts of the pieces of Ruby Eyed Shabranigdo did not come to them every day. Phibrizzo would no doubt have a lot to say about the subject. Personally, Phibrizzo's endless quest to win Shrabranigdo's favor bored Dolphin out of her mind, but she supposed it wouldn't hurt much to give him the information he sought.  
  
Dolphin stood with the rest of the lords and made her way towards the door, but something made her stop and glance behind her. Xelloss was still standing on the dais where he had been seated, gazing after her. Dolphin dismissed Blue, who had been sitting the entire time by her side and sent her to their suite to wait. When the throne room was completely empty of everyone but themselves, Xelloss took a few steps off the dais and spoke.  
  
"Kai-ou-sama, I have been thinking about your request," he said softly, a light smile on his face. "I have decided that I will grant you an audience." Dolphin smiled. He continued, "Entirely private as you requested. That is," he lifted one finger and waggled it at her slyly, "if you'll tell me what it is you have in mind."  
  
"I merely wished to trade information," Dolphin said sweetly. "I have never had the chance to get to know you, seeing as Zelas so rarely brings you along where she goes. I thought that if we each opened our minds to the other, I might be able to put that to right, and you would be able to have access to my thoughts as well. It would be an even trade."  
  
Xelloss' grin widened. "To *trade* information, you say? I highly doubt that I could make much use of anything you could tell me; I am merely a humble servant. And I suspect that by opening my mind to you, I will be giving you the opportunity to enter my thoughts and read them all?" 

  
Dolphin started violently, but managed to keep her expression calm. How had the damned imbecile guessed it?  
  
Undoubtedly noting her reaction, Xelloss quickly continued, "Oh, don't worry. I haven't said anything to my master. She doesn't need to know about this," he winked. "I am not so adverse to the idea as you might think. After all, you mentioned that you might be able to reward me for my efforts..." 

  
Dolphin covered the distance between the dais and herself swiftly and took hold of the priest's hand. Using an old technique of hers, she used his physical form to make contact with his astral body and sent various images to his mind, images of himself as a powerful mazoku with skills far beyond what she imagined Zelas had given him, images of thousands of people bowing down to him, worshipping him, images of the wonderful pain and destruction she would give him if he complied. 

  
When she broke the contact, Dolphin smiled at the surprise and awe on Xelloss' face. And as he considered the images, a greedy smile slowly took the place of the surprise. "Zelas never sees fit to reward me like that," he said simply.  
  
"Well, you needn't fear such stinginess on my part," Dolphin laughed.  
  
"In that case," Xelloss grinned, "I assume you won't turn down a simple favor I have to ask."  
  
"What would that be?"  
  
"If I let you into my mind, if I give you complete and unhindered access to my knowledge, will you let me explore those parts of you which interest me?"  
  
Dolphin frowned. "What do you mean?"  
  
"The mind is the center of your world, Kai-ou-sama, and the body is the center of mine. Let our bodies meld as completely as our minds and then we will truly know one another. You said we could *trade* information, but this is the only kind of information I desire. For you to give me access to your mind would have been useless, as you undoubtedly knew, as I have no expertise in drawing power from the mind. However, my ability to focus power through physical connection with someone is no laughing matter. Give me the pleasure of knowing you and I will open my mind to you as fully as you wish."  
  
Dolphin hesitated, backing away from the scantily clad priest before her. "You wish me to share your bed?"  
  
"Hey, you never know! You might enjoy it!" Xelloss gave her a suggestive smile and laughed.  
  
Dolphin ran a hand through her long blue locks nervously. What the young mazoku was suggesting... it brought old memories to Dolphin's mind, flooding her mind's eye with a series of images. They were images of several hundred centuries ago, when she had first had the vision of Zelas and herself, the one which had caused her to hate Zelas so passionately ever since. She had seen a vision of the future, one in which Zelas ruled over her, forcing her to feel the unwelcome sensations of the physical body. In those terrible moments, she had known the indescribable pleasure and pain of Zelas' domain. And then, worst of all, she had seen...no! It was too terrible even to remember. Dolphin forced herself to shake free of the memories.  
  
"I can't do that," she murmured breathlessly.  
  
"That's a pity," Xelloss shrugged, closing the gap between them again. He lifted one jeweled hand and ran it over her cheek. Through the contact, he gave her the power to feel his physical touch, to feel the softness of his skin, the gentleness of his caress. "Because in that case I can't let you enter my mind. You must realize that I would be taking an enormous risk, allowing you to have access to that part of me which lies within your domain, and without even consulting my master. It is too great a risk to take without appropriate compensation."

  
Dolphin was becoming painfully aware that the beast was not nearly so simple-minded as he let people think. She was considering calling the whole thing off. Still, he was quite possibly her only key to discovering the secrets that Zelas kept. Ever since that vision long ago, Dolphin had been determined to suck every last bit of willfullness and power out of her little sister. The future was never certain, and if Dolphin could just discover whatever power Zelas had that could have allowed her to accomplish such things as the vision showed, she could defeat her, she was sure. Besides, if she abandoned her plan now, the beast priest would undoubtedly end up telling Zelas about the encounter and Zelas would see to it that Dolphin never had access to him again. This was likely her one and only chance.   
  
Xelloss bagan to feign supreme boredom and restlessness. "Well, it's your decision," he said amiably and began to head towards the enormous stone doors which led from the throneroom to Zelas' maze-like gardens.  
  
"Wait!" Dolphin held out a shaking hand. She watched as he slowly turned to look at her, his amethyst eyes burning into hers. "I'll give you want you want, if you'll show me Zelas' deepest secrets."  
  
Xelloss paused a moment. "Hmm. I could never reveal a secret," he said with a slight laugh, "But I could let you gain entrance to that part of my mind. And I could assure you that you will find what you seek there. What you do with the opportunity is your own business."  
  
"Agreed," Dolphin grimaced as the word passed her lips. She would have to take the risk. Anything was worth it, if it meant finally conquering Zelas once and for all. She would never let that horrible future take place.  
  
"Good. I was rather hoping you'd agree." Xelloss clapped his hands in delight, making Dolphin wonder when she had lost control of their discussion and how he had so completely taken it over. Still, she followed him when he began to lead her through the winding passageways of the palace, searching for a place where they could have uninterrupted privacy. And as she went, she readied her mind for the meld. She was pretty certain that the beast priest was unaware that such an absolute melding as he was suggesting, one which combined the physical and psychological, would put him completely at her mercy. True, she would be somewhat helpless as well, but she was far more powerful than him, and unlike him, she knew what to do with her chance.

Xelloss may think he's in control of the situation, she thought, but he doesn't know what he's getting himself into. Let him take his pleasure. It's the last thing any of Beastmaster's clan will ever take from me.  
  
  
  



	11. In Which At Least One Plan Reaches Fullf...

A/N: Oh, thanks to everyone as usual! You're so generous! ^_^ I just can't believe I have so many reviews. You guys are incredible. Special thanks to everybody who has actually come back more than once. Additionally, shikome kido mi, I LOVE your reviews. You always let me know exactly how the story makes you feel. This is so invaluable to me! Plus wonderful insight! Thanks to everyone again. I just feel like thanking you all so much because it is largely due to your encouragement that I haven't given up on this story yet (um...see below for more details). As for scantily-clad Xelloss, hehe, you can at least discern his general build from the Brass Rackets episode (i.e. not particularly formidable...heh heh. Not to mention those girly limbs in the Femile episode!).

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"I see," Xelloss said softly. Rashart bristled a moment and seemed on the verge of challenging him anew when the general-priest, suddenly laughing, said, "I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm afraid I have pressing business elsewhere. Ja," and phased out. 

Raltark relaxed his body against the wall behind which he had been hiding. For a moment, he had feared that Rashart was going to get himself into a full-blown fight with the little bugger. All the same, he didn't feel much relieved. His twin brother was not the sharpest arrow in the quiver, but he was a damn good swordsman. How was it that the sniveling little priest of Juu-ou's had managed to defeat him? But while Rashart stood sullenly, pondering this exact question, the answer was becoming dreadfully clear to Raltark. In fact, it was quite simple. Xelloss was, in fact, *not* a sniveling little priest. Rather, he seemed to have no small amount of power which he had kept hidden from everyone for his own nefarious reasons, no doubt. Several suspicions Raltark had had began to come together in his mind.

Raltark stepped around the corner of the hallway and into Rashart's path as he made to leave. "Oh, Ral, hey!" the brawny general waved nonchalantly at his brother upon seeing him. "Is that meeting startin' yet? I suppose we should go attend Lord Gaav." 

Raltark held out a hand to stop Rashart's passing. He noticed with some consternation that Rashart had actually retained a dark scar across his neck where the staff had rested. Nothing that a little time on the Astral Plane wouldn't heal, but still, to leave a lasting physical mark on a mazoku's material form required some talent. 

"Rashart, hold. I saw what happened just now. How is it that you came to be defeated by the Little Beast?" Xelloss had come to be nicknamed the Little Beast, or even the Little Beastmaster or the Lesser Beastmaster by the other generals and priests because of the way he followed Beastmaster Zelas around, clinging to her skirts like a simpering little puppy. It was not considered to be a good thing in any way.

Rashart merely shrugged off his brother's worry. "Huh. That little trickster got the best of me this time, I guess," he said, pounding one fist into the palm of his other hand. "I have to admit, I'm surprised at his strength. You wouldn'a guessed it from lookin' at him, eh? Well, next time we meet, I promise to bash his little skull into the ground, goddamn smile and all."

He made to push past Raltark, but the priest held out his hand again. "What made him accept your challenge? You told me last time you approached him, he seemed quite unwilling."

"Aw, he's a coward, that's what," Rashart nodded contemptuously. "But he finally agreed to do it if I promised to give him information if he won." Rashart snorted. "You'd think he'd 'a at least asked for somethin' valuable! Damn idiot!" 

Raltark, meanwhile, was holding his head in his hands, too preoccupied to prevent Rashart from passing him this time. 

"Come, on, ya dolt. If we don't hurry we'll be late, and then what will Gaav-sama say?"

***

As it turned out, the servants of Gaav barely made it on time. And they certainly did not have time to explain the situation to the Demon Dragon King before or during the meeting. In the end, Raltark ended up having to wait until everyone had been dismissed and Gaav had dragged him aside in an abandoned hallway. Even then, just as he opened his mouth to convey his findings to his master, a lesser demon popped in from the Astral Plane and bowed deeply. 

"Lord Gaav, your attentions are required in a matter of utmost importance. Lord Dynast wishes to speak with you..."

"Tell that old bugger that I've talked to him more than enough for one century and I don't feel like talkin' to him again."

The demon paused for a moment, as though contemplating what sort of effect this message would have on the Ha-ou, before continuing. "Lord Dynast is adamant in his request. If you would deign to give him but a moment of your time..."

"Gaav-sama, about that..." Raltark began, but he was cut off by a swift jerk of Gaav's arm.

"Hold on, Raltark. I'd better go look into this. It's either that or my whole fucking day is going to be ruined by Grausherra's constant badgering." He began to phase out, adding at the last minute, "You might as well come with and tell me there."

***

But Dynast Grausherra was no more successful in communicating his important news to the Demon Dragon King than Raltark had been. Gaav announced his arrival with a few ungracious comments and the next half an hour was lost in useless bickering. And before Raltark could suggest that thing get back on track, the whole company was interrupted by a loud scream echoing throughout the entire palace.

Dynast and Gaav looked up as one, exchanged glances, and phased immediately to the scream's point of origination. They were not alone. Zelas and Phibrizzo arrived only moments later and the assembled party turned to see a very strange sight, indeed.

Kai-ou Deep Sea Dolphin was curled up on a divan in the middle of a curtained room, naked, her blue skin gleaming in the candlelight, and doubled over, holding her head in her hands while Xelloss looked on. She was also screaming at the top of her proverbial lungs. It was not really so unusual to see Deep Sea Dolphin unclothed, as garments are typically more of a hindrance than a help to creatures of the sea, but there was something about her nudity this time that disturbed her siblings. It seemed almost more...animal.

It was impossible to say when the Beast Priest had arrived; perhaps he had preceded them by only a few seconds, or perhaps he had been there for some time. Somehow, Dynast felt inclined to believe the latter. For although slightly confused, the priest did not seem appropriately stunned, as one should be on witnessing such a scene. Going off of this idea, he was the first to break the silence by demanding, "General Beastmaster, what happened here?"

"She just started screaming like this," was the calm reply. 

"What do you mean? What happened to her?"

"I don't know...exactly," Xelloss answered vaguely. "I didn't mean for this to happen. She just started screaming all of a sudden."

Phibrizzo had begun to poke at Dolphin's essence through the Astral Plane, but he received no coherent reply. 

Gaav, bewildered and nervous at the idea of some unknown threat which could have had so drastic an effect on a Mazoku Lord, thundered, "Well, you must have done something! What was it?" In his mind, there was no doubt the sneaky little bastard was involved.

"Oh, nothing much," Xelloss replied in the same even tone as before.

"Nothing much, eh? Must've been something for her to go off like this." Gaav's fear had quickly dissipated into the desire to tear somebody's flesh and bones into little pieces. It was probably lucky that everyone present had neither.

"But I didn't do anything...important."

Over the sound of Gaav's battle cry, Dynast interjected, "Stop being so cryptic! What did you do?" He was prepared to take slightly more drastic steps than the Demon Dragon King. If Xelloss did not answer the way Dynast was expecting him to, he planned to incinerate the little creep, no matter what it meant in terms of his current treaty with Zelas. After all, he couldn't have the priest leaking information.

Finally Xelloss' demeanor changed a bit. "What happened between Lord Deep Sea Dolphin and myself is a secret that only we two will ever know. It is a secret because the truth will never pass my lips, and well...good luck trying to get anything out of her!" Xelloss jerked a thumb at the still hysterical mazoku. The screaming had died down, and she now seemed to be rocking back and forth and muttering to herself. 

It sounded like, "Blood! Blood! I can see it...it's everywhere. The death...the death is all around me!"

For awhile, everyone could do little more than stare at the raving Dolphin. Her tangled azure hair had fallen into her face, but she made no move to brush it aside. At first, they thought she would abandon her physical form altogether, but, for some reason, she remained. Slowly each mazoku lord receded into his/her own thoughts and began to comtemplate how to convincingly deny his/her involvement to the others without giving away any vital information. 

After a long silence, Phibrizzo gazed intently at Dolphin, who was still muttering, and said quietly, "How extraordinary."

"Extraordinary?" Gaav directed his frustration at his elder sibling. "I don't see how this is helping us serve our lord. If anything, this is probably just setting us back. And it's all thanks to your meddling, ya frost-bitten bastard." Now he was facing Dynast. "If you weren't so damned concerned with causing anarchy amongst us five, this kind of thing wouldn't be happening.

Phibrizzo aimed an indecipherable look at the Ha-ou. "Been sowing the seeds of discord, have you, Dynast?"

"That's not your concern, Hellmaster," Dynast answered coldly. "Gaav, if you had one ounce of intelligence, you would see that I am right. We are on the verge of discovering a piece of our lord. Don't you want to be free of all...obstructions when that happens?"

"If I were a good servant of my lord," Gaav retorted, "I would be too interested in having him resurrected to care about who resurrects him or when or why. And fighting amongst ourselves is only going to delay our goal and decrease our power. I want to go out and rip out the throats of some bloody dragons, or wreak havoc on mankind, not stand here and bicker with you."

A wide grin spread across Phibrizzo's childish face. "For once, my sword-slinging brother is right," he said, absently tracing some invisible pattern on the divan's arm rest with his index finger. "Our goal may be to create chaos, but the returning of the world to darkness, can, unfortunately, not be brought about haphazardly. It will require careful planning and precise cooperation. If we allow anarchy to reign, we will end up destroying ourselves without accomplishing anything. It is part of the endless ironic balance of the universe that chaotic beings such as ourselves must use order and rational thought to achieve our goals." He tipped an imaginary hat at the absent, and yet ever-present, Lord of Nightmares as he spoke.

Gaav was mildly surprised, but not unpleased, by Phibrizzo's apparent backing of his opinion. He was about to support Phibrizzo's admonition, when he was cut off by Dolphin's sudden relapse into a hysterical fit, at the end of which, she blindly clawed at the air and screeched, "Death!...Phibrizzo will bring death to you, Demon Dragon King. Beware!...I feel the pain. Bodies torn to shreds...intestines trailing on the ground! I see it all!

The resulting silence was the longest yet.

Gaav and Phibrizzo threw a number of awkward glances in each other's directions. Finally Gaav managed to choke out, "W..was that a..._prediction_?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Gaav," the Hellmaster scoffed, "I just said I agreed with you, didn't I? We're on the same side here. What could possibly motivate me to kill you now?"

Gaav did not reply. Instead he subtly shifted his weight into a defensive stance and continued to favor his brother with a inquiring glare.

"Oh, come on!" Phibrizzo rolled his eyes. "She's raving mad. Anyone can see that. Besides, you don't _ have_ intestines. She couldn't possibly be talking about you."

Still, Gaav neither spoke nor relaxed his position. Zelas, who had been unusally quiet the entire time, shifted her gaze from Xelloss, where it had been residing for the past ten minutes, and rested it on Dolphin, who had become somewhat forgotten in the resulting tension. Then she laughed.

Dynast gave an exasperated sigh and, leaving his two elder brothers to their staring match, moved to sit beside the Kai-ou. "Dolphin! Do you know who I am?" He shook her shoulders, reaching out across the Astral Plane and trying to jolt her into consciousness. "Please, you must come to your senses." When his attempts proved unsuccessful, he turned to his siblings and said gravely, "Don't forget, if Dolphin doesn't return to a sane state, none of us will ever know what she was going to reveal about the Dark Lord's resurrection."

This bit of information completely broke Gaav out of his trance, lighting his eyes with a sudden fire. "That's right!" He practically pounced on the hapless Xelloss and, shoving his face next to the priest's, spat out, "You'd better tell me right now what you did, you piece of shit!"

"Tsk tsk," Xelloss shook a finger admonishingly at the mazoku Lord. "How are you so sure that _ I_ am behind this? Dolphin did as she desired. I was merely following orders."

"Who's orders?" Gaav gave Xelloss a violent shake. "Dolphin's? Zelas'? Dynasts'? Phibrizzo's?"

Xelloss grinned. "Now _that_ is a secret."

"Why you!"

Zelas only barely managed to extract her minion from the grasp of her elder brother before certain doom was visited upon him. Fortunately, though, she was in time, and placing a slender hand in front of Gaav's face, she waggled her finger at him as well. "Quit that. You heard him. He was following orders."

"Oh, so they were yours, eh?" Gaav growled.

"I never said that. Far be it from me to attack my older sister. I would never give Xelloss such a rash assignment." Zelas casually formed a cigarette out of thin air, lit it with a snap of her fingers, and began to inhale its sweet smoke.

"Well, don't look at me," Phibrizzo shrugged, sensing Gaav's eyes upon him. "I'm the one who's trying to keep things peaceful, remember?"

Dynast turned an icy gaze on the childlike mazoku. "So you say, but I know I'm not the only one who's been operating behind his siblings' backs."

"Well, how do I know it wasn't _you_," Phibrizzo retorted. "If you'd plan the demise of one sibling, you'd plan the demise of all."

"Who said I've been planning anyone's demise?"

The Hellmaster took up a mocking pose. "Now that is a secret," he sneered.

Gaav watched the situation wildly escalating out of control. At last, he brought the bickering to an end by bellowing, "Stop it" as loud as he could, accompanied by a blaze of fire which singed the tips of all the curtains hanging about the room. When he felt he had everyone's attention, he continued, "This isn't getting us anywhere. Zelas, nobody trusts you for good reason. And frankly, I don't trust your servants either. Raltark, isn't there something you wanted to tell us?"

"Oh." Raltark, largely forgotten amidst the chaos, was jolted out of his own reverie. He stepped forward nervously. He had really meant to make his announcement in private to Lord Gaav. To make the kind of accusation he was about to make publicly could result in some very unpleasant consequences. "Um...Well, your lordships..." he threw a glance at Xelloss, who was looking at him strangely, with an almost expenctant, gleeful attitude. Hastily, Raltark continued, pointing to the general-priest. "He is not as he appears to be. For the last several centuries he has let us believe that he is a harmless fool who blindly does Juu-ou's bidding, but it's not so. He has been hiding his true power from us all this time. Ask him who it was that killed that mad sorcerer, Bo-lin, who eliminated so many hundreds of our kind. Ask him who destroyed the kingdom of Aritaal, the capital of white magic in the Vaas Grasslands region. Ask him what happened to that clan of black dragons who were threatening the Island 70 years ago. Ask him who gave Rashart that scar..."

Gaav's head jerked up. "What's this?"

All eyes rested on Xelloss. For a moment, the priest remained unaffected. Then, he did something entirely unexpected: he opened his eyes. And for the first time since they had met him, the Mazoku Lords were treated to an unobstructed view of those glittering, purple icicles. No one really needed to say anything. The malice and intelligence apparent in those eyes were enough proof for everyone present that Raltark's accusations were true. Raising one eyebrow, Xelloss replied coolly, "Well, I guess the cat's out of the bag. It matters little now, anyhow. I have already accomplished what I meant to accomplish with that masquerade. Juu-ou-sama, if you'll allow it, I will retire. I am exhausted with the days...efforts."

"Go," his master acknowledged. And he went.

Dynast, his own dark eyes boring coldly into his sister's skull, responded with his characterisic icy malevolence, "It would seem you have some confessions to make, Beastmaster."

"Oh, really?" Zelas laughed, exhaling a series of smoke rings. "I don't feel like confessing anything."

"Perhaps I can make you reconsider that."

"You don't frighten me anymore, Supreme King," Zelas hissed. She tossed back her head, her near-white tresses swaying wildly with the movement. "I feel such a sudden freedom. I think I'll go celebrate with a few drinks. And perhaps I'll ask Xelloss to keep me company tonight." She looked pointedly at Deep Sea Dolphin. "He's really excellent in bed, you know. So good, it drives me crazy! Ahahahahahahahahaa!"

From the corner where he sat, Phibrizzo watched his sister's image dissolve into the air and smiled.

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A/N: *ahem* As you may have noticed, updates getting less and less frequent. *cough* Yup. My old obsession calls. What can I say? Erik holds the key to my heart. (See profile). Also, the semester is dragging on and I find myself increasingly distracted by schoolwork and social events. Haha...social events...for a recluse like me that means D&D sessions and band gigs. Oh well. But seriously, I will try to not completely abandon this since people seem to be actually reading it, moreso than anything else I've ever written, but I don't foresee great forward leaps in progress. I have a few more chapters already planned, but the going is slow. And if I get the summer job I am applying for, I won't be around for half the summer at least. Fortunately this chapter is pretty long. And after all, this seems like a pretty good ending place. Maybe I won't go on and this will be a story about how Dolphin went insane. Well, I'll have to think about it. I think I may have at least one chapter left. Those of you who want me to continue this are at least lucky that the Phantom of the Opera section of ff.net, or what's left of it, either simply doesn't get as many readers, or I'm just not any good at writing Phantom fiction, because I've never had so many faithful followers there. Which is precisely why I'm writing this right now. Well, as Amethyst Angel puts it, "To be (or not to be) continued." Ok, back to not writing my German essay...


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